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Darkness Before Dawn	By : SangoHuntress1977 Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3356 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: YuGiOh and the characters thereof are the sole domain of Kazuki Takahashi and all rightsholders. I'm only borrowing them for entertainment purposes and am deriving no profit.

Chapter List
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Thursday, April 7, 2005
Domino University
Yugi was floored by just how well read his new friend was, with knowledge of a vast array of topics that Yugi had never even heard of and the ability to speak seven languages fluently. When Atem spoke of topics that he was passionately interested in, it was so easy for Yugi to forget the perpetual anger and sorrow that seemed to drag the Egyptian down the rest of the time.
Today, Atem had decided to try his hand at teaching Yugi some foreign languages. To that end, he and Yugi sat across from each other, Yugi watching the movement of Atem’s lips intently as he carefully pronounced each foreign phrase.
“Guten morgan ,” the Egyptian teen said.
“Gooten morugan,” Yugi repeated, wincing as he butchered the words.
“Close enough,” smiled Atem. “In French, it’s bonjour. ”
“Bonjouru,” Yugi parroted.
“Very good. In Arabic, it’s said sabah alkhyr ,” Atem instructed.
“Sabahu arukyru,” Yugi parroted. “Ugh! I butchered it!”
“That’s alright. Japanese isn’t the best language for pronouncing foreign words,” soothed Atem.
“You can say that again,” glowered Yugi. “Where’d you learn all these different languages anyway?”
“My parents and I traveled quite extensively when I was young,” Atem explained, looking down at his leather clad legs.
“Cool,” answered Yugi. “All I know is a little English. Between school and TV, I managed to piece together enough to be able to watch American shows without subtitles.”
“A skill worth having,” said Atem, raising his eyes admiringly.
Yugi beamed at this compliment.
“When’s your birthday?” he asked impulsively.
“I’ll turn 20 on July 26th. And yours?” was Atem’s response.
“Wow! We’re pretty close. I’ll be 19 on June 4th,” answered Yugi.
“Ah! So we’re both children of the summer sun,” grinned Atem.
“Yeah!” said Yugi ebulliently.
Later…
Jou had to work an earlier shift at the hardware store today, leaving Yugi to walk home. As he started out, he saw Atem sitting under their oak. Smiling, he started walking toward him.
Screech!
Honk Honk!
That sound caused Yugi to stop in his tracks as an ugly lime green sedan screeched to a halt across the field from where Atem sat.
“Atem!” an old man’s gravelly voice screeched from within the car.
Atem flinched, face paling and countenance falling visibly at this sound. Suddenly, he was grabbing his things and getting to his feet.
The driver of the car, an old man with dark skin like Atem's, a scraggly white beard and a patch over his left eye started yelling at Atem in a language Yugi didn’t understand as Atem slowly approached the car, head down and shoulders drooping. Slinking like a dog that was used to being beaten on, Atem sank into the back seat, shutting his door. The car peeled out with a squeal of its tires and Atem was gone.
‘He’s not fighting on the way home from school,’ Yugi realized. ‘ Something’s happening to him at his place!’
Friday, April 8, 2005
Domino University
Yugi watched the door, waiting for Atem to enter the room. The Egyptian never showed, causing Yugi’s heart to sink like a stone. At lunch, Yugi headed for the oak tree, hoping to see his dark twin sitting under it, waiting for him. Alas, there was no Atem to be found. Heart feeling like lead, Yugi returned to the courtyard to find Jou.
“Jou?” Yugi began in a small voice.
“Hey, Yuge. Ain’t eatin’ wit’ Yami today?” teased Jou as he crunched on Doritos.
“He wasn’t in class today,” Yugi began, too upset to correct Jou’s appellation. “And he’s not under the oak tree like he always is.”
“Prolly sick,” said Jou with a shrug.
“Maybe…” Yugi said, though his gut roughened that this was most certainly not the case.
Not really feeling much by way of appetite, Yugi slumped down on the bench and began absently eating his Doritos, tongue longing for the taste of Atem’s hummus and tabbouleh .
Saturday, April 9, 2005
Kame Game Shop
Saturday saw Yugi over at the Kame Game Shop to do some work and give Sugoroku a much needed day off. While Yugi swept the shop up in between customers, Sugoroku sat at the register and watched his grandson work. Something in his body language told Sugoroku that something was amiss.
“How's everything at school, my boy?” the old man inquired.
Yugi sighed and set the broom aside to face his grandfather.
“I’ve got… kind of a problem,” he began.
“I’m all ears,” Sugoroku replied.
“Grandpa, if you had a friend that you thought was having trouble at home, like with his family, what would you do? Would you stay out of it or try to help him?” asked Yugi.
“Well, Yugi. It’s usually better not to poke your nose into things that don’t directly concern you. Very little good usually comes of doing so,” advised Sugoroku.
“But…” Yugi began.
“However, I know you and I know that kind of heart of yours. I get the feeling that if a friend of yours was hurting, you’d do everything in your power to help them, because that’s the way you’ve always been, like when you shared your bento with Jounouchi in high school, even though he was a bully to you,” Sugoroku continued.
“Heh heh! Yeah,” grinned Yugi, rubbing the nape of his neck.
“I can’t tell you what to do, Yugi. You have to go with what your gut tells you. That’s part of being an adult. Just promise me you’ll be careful no matter what you decide to do,” advised Sugoroku.
“I will. I promise, Grandpa,” agreed Yugi, taking up his broom again.
“That’s good to hear,” replied Sugoroku, reaching into the shelf beneath the display counter, and pulling out what appeared to be a solid gold box with hieroglyphs on it, which he proffered to Yugi.
“Whoa!” cried Yugi at the sight of the thing. “For me?!”
“Yes,” answered Sugoroku. “This was only discovered two months ago and dates back to the end of the 18th dynasty. A friend of mine from our university days just brought it over from Egypt and gave it to me. Ordinarily, it would go in a museum, but I want you to have it. Open it up.”
Yugi did this and saw several gold pieces reposing within the box. He lifted one out and looked at it. On its surface was a large, piercing eye.
“Thanks, Grandpa! This is awesome! I’m gonna build this thing and show it to you when I finish!” declared Yugi.
“I’ll look forward to it,” smiled Sugoroku, violet eyes twinkling.
That evening…
Yugi sat staring into his monitor for quite a while, thinking over what he had seen yesterday and his earlier conversation with Grandpa. Violet eyes narrowed as he came to a decision and reached into his backpack for his Psych 101 notes. He fired up his scanner and ran each paper through it, then printed out copies of them, which he put into his folder to take with him to school on Monday.
This done, he pulled out the golden box and poured the puzzle pieces onto his desk. Picking them up, he tried fitting different pieces with each other, but never seemed to make any headway. After an hour straight of doing this, Yugi sighed in frustration and swept all the pieces back into the box, which he laid on his window sill behind his computer monitor.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Domino University
Yugi let out a sigh of relief when he saw Atem walk in through the door. However, his blood ran cold when he saw how stiffly the Egyptian walked, arms wrapped around his body, his right eye swollen shut, the surrounding flesh black and blue. And were those bandages peeking out from under his tank top?! Yugi's heart plummeted when Atem dropped listlessly into a desk three rows away from Yugi instead of next to him.
All through the class, Yugi would look over to Atem, hoping to catch his gaze and exchange a secret smile, as had become their custom. Atem never once looked up, indeed barely seemed to move for the duration of the class, which worried Yugi greatly, as Atem adored psychology.
Lunch…
Stomach rumbling in anticipation of some good food, Yugi made his way outdoors and started in the direction of the oak tree. In the distance, he saw Atem emerge from his building and start for the tree as well. Yugi was struck by the stiffness in the Egyptian’s gate. So he hadn’t been imagining it before. Atem was limping!
“Atem!” Yugi called as he fell in behind the dark one.
Atem’s form stiffened as he looked over his left shoulder at Yugi.
“Leave me alone,” he said in a low, dead voice that matched the empty gaze from his one open eye.
Yugi watched as Atem walked stiffly toward the tree and flung himself gracelessly to the grass under it. He remembered the old guy yelling at Atem on Friday and Atem’s dejected demeanor as he had approached the green car. Something was very wrong with the entire picture. Yugi took a few steps nearer, even as he sensed a dangerous aura rising from his dark twin.
“Atem, what’s…”
“I said leave me alone!” Atem screamed, entire being bristling as he glared at Yugi with barely restrained rage in his left eye.
Feeling his heart constrict painfully in his chest, Yugi reached into his backpack and pulled out the papers, which he set down on the grass a respectful distance from Atem.
“This is a copy of my class notes from Friday. You can study it and catch up,” he said softly as he backed away from the agitated man.
As Yugi backed away, he saw Atem stare after him brokenheartedly before picking up the papers and stuffing them into his backpack.
- 4
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- 6
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Darkness Before Dawn