Birdhouse in Your Soul

The gentle caress of the sun's warmth made her smile today. She always adored it. It reminded her of home. If she called it home. She decided to walk home after school. Not even bothering to run into her new friends across the hall from her class. She had some planning to do. It was only a matter of time before they find out where she is. It's been three days since she hasn't seen Yugi's dark side. It's almost as if she had imagined the entire thing but no Yugi had to know about the shadow games. She had to carry out her plan and leave this place despite how fun her friends are. This thought stopped her from walking further. She stood there with a depressed look to the sidewalk before her. Every other citizen passed her as she wasn't moving. She had done it. She grew attached and it hasn't been what... Two days? With a sigh, she figured she'll get over it. It's not like it was gonna kill her. She concluded that it wasn't the fact that she's attached but the fact there was a sense of longing but that accompanied feelings of hurt. She shook her head and carried on. But before she could go about her afternoon, she heard a cry of help.

"You, excuse me." She looked over to see a short boy with glasses running to her. It was that same boy that Yugi claimed to be his friend. Hanasaki was it? Why the hell was his face bruised up?

"What's wrong?" She demanded and he stopped in front of her to catch his breath, "I need your help! Yugi is going to be in trouble and it's my fault!"

Her eyes widened at his statement and then she glared down at him, "Why did you come to me?"

This caused him to flinch at her tone, "You.. You're his girlfriend, are you not?"

"I am not!"

"Oh? What a relief for me." A deep voice from behind made her jump in shock. It was that one guy from the bus, with the weird hair!

"Either way, I sent Hanasaki to you so that he can invite you to my show tonight but seeing as he said too much, you're forced to go princess." He chuckled as he crossed his arms.

She felt a nudge and it was the small boy, "Let's just go."

Ignoring him she glared at the big guy, "What are you planning to do with Yugi?"

"Just a special performance for him and guests." He held out a hand to her, "You're our special guest." She smacked it away from her and this caused him to forcefully grab her wrist, "Lucky you going in for free."

[Showtime]

There they are at the karaoke place with the huge banner stating "All you can sing!" She couldn't fucking believe that she was being held hostage. No, she wasn't restrained to the metal chair he sat her in. He kept making threats that if she didn't comply, his buddies will pull Yugi to the side and beat him. Seriously, this boy has a knack for getting into trouble. She concluded it was his hair. Now if he were some random boy like Hanasaki here, she didn't think she would take his threat seriously and found a way to disregard her displays of shadow magic and just throttle him on the streets. But no... Something held her back. Why does she feel the need to protect him? It's his puzzle that mattered to her!

"Oi, I'm getting impatient here!" She fidgeted in her seat. She was at center backstage behind a curtain. The two guys who were watching her just glared at her. One of them spoke up, "Shut it, girly! Three minutes till!"

Rolling her eyes she replied, "Can't wait!"

On the other side of the curtain was Elvis in all his glory and a pitiful audience he had. Yugi sat there in shame and just shook the jingle bells he received.

Souzouji wasn't pleased, "Yugi, what the hell is this?" He stomped towards him and grabbed him by the shirt, "How could you fail to even sell a single ticket?!"

"I'm sorry!" He whimpered, "I was really busy."

"Damn right you were!" He growled, "Don't give me this excuse of girlfriend crap either!"

Yugi was scared, always flinching every time Souzouji spoke, "I wasn't going to give you an excuse!" He pleaded, "Look, I'll stay and hear you sing."

"No shit, loser! You're going to stay until dawn and party with me!" Souzouji let him go and walked back onstage and spoke to the microphone, "Before the Live of Blood show begins, I would like to welcome our special guest to the stage!"

That was their cue to move. One of his stooges walked closer to Idol. She gave this glare that made her more intimidating than how she appeared. This guy was a bit freaked thinking she might bite him. She read her mind and smirked, "No, of course I won't bite, yet." They placed headphones on her head and opened the curtains. Her eyes squinted at the unexpected spotlight. As soon as they came into focus, she spotted Yugi by himself on the couch and her favorite guy of the hour onstage messing with the sound system.

"Presenting the beautiful Idol!"

She could hear him loud and clear through the headphones and she could barely hear Yugi shouting at her from off stage.

"One lucky girl, aren't you?" He chuckled moving closer to her, "Here on stage with me and you're only going to listen to me!"

She shut her eyes at the sound, "Can you tone it down a notch? You're going to make the entire world wish they were deaf!"

"I think you meant max volume." He snickered.

Her eyes widen, "You're fucking kidding me." If the previous setting was loud enough, then...

"Now the number I'm most proud of!"

She wanted to say that she heard worse things but with her ear drums imploding. She was so fucking done. She removed them away from her head and stood up.

"Hey! Sit back down!"

"Don't test me!" She growled at the two buddies of Souzouji.

Souzouji crept closer to her, "Remember our agreement, Idol, if you don't comply," he motioned for them to open the other curtain, "Then this will be your friend's fate!"

There lay an even more beat up Hanasaki. He pathetically lifted his head towards me and Yugi. She didn't notice that Yugi rushed over to him.

The guys who were with Hanasaki were now around Idol. One held her in place and the other shoved the headphones on her.

"Now second song!" He screamed to the microphone which made her cringe.

"Quit pissing me off!" She shoved the two guys off of her. She couldn't hear anything but ringing in her ears. A faint golden glow was shone from the corner of her eye. Believing it that it came from her, she whacked the two men with the chair she sat on, knocking them out. She gave a look to Souzouji as if she were to say, "You're next."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she gasped. It was Yugi! The same aura from the other night! She hadn't realized how tall he got. He was as tall as her now. Both his hands were either side of her face and removed the headphones off of her ears so they were now just hanging from her neck, "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I can't hear you but.. Yes."

Chuckling at her statement, he stepped forward and his mood changed to a scary mad. Now there's mad but then there's this guy. His glare outdid Idol's.

"How dare you make my friends suffer! I will not forgive you!"

Souzouji just chuckled, "Hey what happened to your eyes?"

Idol looked as well, she noticed a difference as well. His eyes were now crimson instead of the soft violet. She looked at the puzzle suspiciously. This guy isn't Yugi, she concluded.

"Souzouji, are you a coward?" Her dark companion mocked, "Because if you're not, then you won't run away from a little game with Idol."

"Game?" Souzouji questioned.

"A game of silence."

"What!" She wondered if her hearing came back or did he say, "I'm playing your shadow game?"

He gave her a bored look, "You're wearing the headphones."

"Screw you!" She glared at him what the hell did the headphones had to do with this, "Who died and made you king!" She put the headphones around his neck and she thought to herself, "I don't even have my scale, how stupid of me."

Behind him the two dimwits just recovered and saw that Souzouji motioned them to attack. She noticed them coming close to Yugi, "But that doesn't stop me from anything!" She shoved Yugi out of the way and grabbed the arm that was about to strike him. Using her body weight, she pushed one and both of their weight toppled the other, "And it also doesn't stop me from using my shadow magic." She chanted and her eyes became slit-like along with the millennium eye appeared on her forehead, "Illusion." The two men cowered as if they saw their worst fears and ran out the door.

"Oi! Cowards!"

"I've made the preparations if both of you can join me here at the table."

There he had two dance clown dolls on the table. She recognized these things. These were called Sound Peirrot. Basically if you made any noise these weird looking things will dance. Yugi walked up to her and whispered in her ear. She felt weird having him close. Was this how the little one felt whenever she'd mess with him? Was this payback? He leaned back and winked at her. Yes, it was. Though, she focused on what he told her to do and it confused her. He wanted me to put the headphone jack, where?!

Souzouji sat across the table from him. Idol had came back with the glass of water as Yugi explained the rules, "The Sound Pierrots will be placed in front of us, as the game begins we both need to be perfectly silent. If we make a noise then the clown will dance that will signify loss."

"Alright," Souzouji chuckled, "What happens if you lose?"

"I'll give my life."

Idol studied him again and she added this to her mental notes about him: he's insane.

"But if you lose, then you will suffer a penalty game."

"I'm down with that!"

As they began the game, Idol had already placed the glass of water next to Yugi's clown and she had balanced his headphone jack on the rim of the glass without anyone but Yugi noticing. He gave her a nod and she stepped away from them. She sat on the floor and watched. Trying not to make a sound though it was very hard for her because she still had that ringing in her ears along with a terrible pressure that's making her head hurt. She's suffering through this and she ain't even playing. There was a thumping sound. Her body stopped moving even her breathing so she can hear where this thumping sound is coming from. Was it her heart? No... She looked to the two. Yugi wore a smirk as we waited patiently while Souzouji was breaking a sweat, his face contorted as he watched the glass of water she had placed there. A lightbulb went off in her head. So that's why he wanted her to do that!

Soon the Pierrot picked up on the sound of the thumping and danced. This made Souzouji gasped.

"The sound of your heart!"

Souzouji looked up at the speakers as his heart rate increases, "Why are they playing my heart beat!"

Finally, she stood up and pointed at what he had in his hand, "Stupid, you didn't let go of your damn mic!"

He looked down at the mic in hand, "No! This can't be!"

"Maximize volume on that asshole." She gritted her teeth as Yugi gave the penalty.

As Souzouji wailed and ran off like a crazy person, she went ahead and turned off the bloody speaker. She knew she was being watched so she turned to him and crossed her arms, "Well I'll say, after three days of knowing you, I had no idea this side of you were ever to come out, Yugi, if I can call you that."

He only smirked, "I see you're not dressed as conspicuous as the last time we met."

"So you figured out who I am." She grinned, "Last time we met?" So...she was right about him, "Who are you anyways? Split-personality?"

"I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."

She kept her grin, not wanting to show her impatience. She might have to reveal herself tonight if he keeps pushing it, "Fine, what do you want to hear?"

"That item you have with you, it's the same as this one." He held his millennium puzzle. Although it wasn't a question, she knew he just wanted to confirm it.

She nodded, "Yes, they're called the Millennium Items."

He stared at his, pondering over something, "Is it just ours?"

"No, there are others though I'm not sure of the exact number." She walked over to him and held her hand out, "May I?"

He gave her a long hard stare and then trusted her to hold it, though this made her closer to him because he didn't want to take it off, "The only distinguishing factor that these items have is the eye of Horus." She explained tracing the pattern of it, "You want to know an interesting fact about your particular piece."

He nodded for her to continue, "Pyramids in Ancient Egypt were built so that the pinnacle pointed towards the sun." She rested the puzzle upside down on the palm of her hand so that the tip would demonstrate in what she was saying, "It is believed that when we die our spirits will rise to the heavens. To the sun. To Ra. That is what the pyramids signified."

She let go of the puzzle so that it hung down, she had it by the rope, "The Millennium Puzzle is in the shape of an upside down pyramid, meaning it points down away from the sun, away from Ra. A symbol of darkness." She lets it go completely and meets his eye, "Which makes me question who you are as in relation to this puzzle or does this puzzle amplify Yugi's inner demons."

He took her words in and thought silently to himself before giving her a genuine smile. No, it wasn't a smirk but a smile, "I am the spirit of the millennium puzzle and I can be either friend or foe."

She realized he used her words on her this time and before she can give a reply a glow blinded her for a moment and he shrunk back to Yugi.

He looked as if he just woke up and he realized where he was and who was in front of him, "Oh? Idol? What happened?"

She had to realize that she had her mouth open in shock. Snapping out of it she put up her friendly face, "Yugi! It was so terrible! You'd fallen asleep through the entire performance!"

He just gave her a dumbfound look and noticed his surroundings. Then he saw someone, "Ah! Hanasaki-kun!"

"Oh yeah, he exists, too." Idol had totally forgotten about him and she made her way to help Yugi carry Hanasaki back to his house.

Afterwards, she had offer him to walk him home. Yugi felt out of place for it was him that was supposed to walk her home. She objected saying that she wasn't gonna head home anytime soon and that she was gonna head to whatever coffee shop that was open at this hour.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"That's kinda late, Idol." Yugi joked as they were now in front of the game shop. This was her first time here and she couldn't stop staring at the place.

"Don't be cute." She stuck her tongue out at him, "I wanted to know how you got the millennium puzzle."

"Oh, I never told you." He grabbed it, "My grandfather gave it to me as a present, it took me about eight years to solve it and well I have to say it was just recently."

"Eight years?!" She had to been what? Seven years old? That's when all the shit happened to her at home. It's what forced her to leave home. She was angry but she couldn't show it and she knew he had just solved it recently, otherwise she would've gone another wild goose chase.

"Who's your grandfather?"

"Yugi! You're home late again!" On cue an old man walked out of the shop and scolded the little boy in front of her, "I didn't give you a curfew just for you to... Oh!" He finally saw her and chuckled, "Well if I had known you were on a date, you could've just let me know before hand!"

"Grandpa!" Yugi whined, "We are not dating, this is my new friend, Idol."

She felt a little awkward and waved a hello. She was never good with family members.

"Not dating? Oh, what a shame! She is so pretty!"

She giggled nervously, "Um, thank you?"

His grandfather smacked his back, "Well don't leave her outside for too long, if you want, invite her to the living room."

"Maybe next time, sir, it's already late and I have to head home." She cleared her throat hoping she said the right thing.

"Well I hope you do come by again! It was nice to meet you, Idol!" His grandpa waved before stepping inside the shop, "Goodnight!"

A moment of awkward silence had passed but Idol was relieved, "Well that was interesting."

"That's gramps." Yugi's face was red in embarrassment and she couldn't help but smile.

"I do hope coming by again that is if you have me."

He was yet again flustered and he had no idea why, "S-sure, maybe we can hang out tomorrow."

"I'd like that, Yugi." She leaned closer and ruffled his hair, "Goodnight." With a smirk, she saw the puzzle glint and this was indeed payback. Annoyed he fixed his hair to look..."normal" and trotted inside uttering "strange girl."