Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Mood Ring ❯ A Gift from a Friend ( Chapter 1 )

Mood Ring

 

By Liz

 

Welcome to the new fanfic that has made its way from the confines of my mind and onto the computer through typed word. I had basically written this story about the same time that I was writing Yami in Dora the Explorer Land, but I never got around to actually posting it.

 

Well, the idea came back in my head after 3 years of sitting around, and here it is! Written a lot better than before, I promise you!

 

***

 

He had always felt the uneasy tension between them, but he never questioned it. He merely shrugged it off as a stress factor and let it be, hoping that it would soon end itself and everything would go back to normal.

 

But it didn't end, oh no. It spiraled into even larger proportions, forcing a gap between both parties. To say that he was confused would have been an understatement.

 

This would explain why the two sat on opposite sides of the room during his birthday party. At least he could have some comfort in his friends whilst the other was content with watching. Watching the other boy open presents excitedly, occasionally catching his gaze before quickly turning away.

 

After all, they could never really be apart. And yet, they were miles away.

 

“Come on Yugi! Open my present!” Jounouchi pressed, shoving the poorly wrapped gift into his friend's hands. “I know it's not much, but I thought you'd like it!”

 

Yugi smiled at his blonde friend, taking the package into his hands and carefully opening it. The suspense was obviously eating away at Jounouchi, Yugi could see him almost leaning forward in his chair.

 

When the wrapping was removed it uncovered a small box. He eyed it over again, to the dismay of Jounouchi, before finally opening it.

 

He stared at the contents of the box, eyes wide with surprise and mouth gaping with wonder. From the other side of the room, Yami thought he could see a hint of mesmerization in his aibou's eyes.

 

“A ring?” Anzu said, bringing Yugi out of his small trance. “You got him a ring?”

 

“It's not just any old ring!” Jounouchi said. “It's a mood ring! You know, the kind that changes colors based on what mood you're in? They were very popular in the 70's, but I still think they're cool.”

 

“You know that it changes color due to the heat of your body, right?” Honda said.

 

“Well just ruin the fun, why don't you?”

 

“It's great, Jounouchi.” Yugi said, staring at his gift once more. “I'll treasure it forever.”

 

Jounouchi jumped out of his seat. “Well, what are you waiting for? Put it on!”

 

Yugi pulled out the small band in a hurry, fumbling with the ring before dropping it on the ground. It rolled on the hard wood surface until it hit an object and fell over.

 

The group turned their heads to follow the ring, eyes stopping as it ran into the pharaoh's shoe. They watched as the said man bent down and picked up the object, turning it over in his hand before standing up and walking toward them.

 

“What an interesting little gift you gave, Jounouchi.” He said as he crossed the room. “One might think that this is a sign of endearment.” Laughing as the teenager shook his head, claiming the opposite. Yami continued across the room, stopping in front of Yugi.

 

He could feel the tension rising again as Yugi looked up at him, and he tried to suppress it with a smile. Yugi's gaze looked elsewhere, seeming to focus on the ring in Yami's hand.

 

Yami knelt down to meet his aibou's gaze. “You seemed to have dropped something.” He was answered with a nod. Yami smiled again, grabbing a hold of Yugi's left hand. “Jounouchi said to put it on,” he slipped the ring over Yugi's ring finger. “and now it's on.”

 

Yugi lifted his hand to his face, gazing at the cool metal that seemed to clash with his pale skin. He had to admit, the object was beautiful. Jounouchi had good taste in jewelry. But there was something more to this ring, but he couldn't place it. All he could do was stare.

 

Yami stood back up and took his place back on the other side of the living room. He sat down, sighing to himself. He held out his hand, staring at it as if it were his most precious commodity. If only you knew, aibou.

 

***

 

 

The next morning was like any other morning. Yugi got up from bed, got ready, ate some breakfast, and ran off to school. However this time he had something on his mind, which was evident in the many glances he gave his new present. He would show his grandfather the ring many times, receiving small complaints of “I've already seen it, Yugi” before walking away to find something to do.

 

Yugi was still excited over the ring, even though it never changed colors. It was always a shade of turquoise, a blue-green, but never anything else. Yugi looked up what turquoise meant on the piece of paper that came with it, commenting that it worked rather well, seeing as the color referred to “excitement” or being "emotionally charged”.

 

Though Yami was still puzzled over how Yugi could be so excited over one gift. He had received numerous gifts from all his friends, but it was the ring that caught his attention. Maybe he did mistake it for a term of endearment.

 

If he could just talk to Yugi, talk like they used to when they were still close. But he could never start up a real conversation, and the more he seemed to want to, the more reluctant he was. And Yugi could sense his caution, but couldn't place it, and Yami was glad for that. I wouldn't want to burden him...

 

But now only one thing was on Yugi's mind. He had indeed become mesmerized by his gift, only stopping his thought process to show off the colors to his friends.

 

The whole one color it had been since he put it on.

 

Yugi stared at the ring all the way to his classroom, occasionally bumping into a random person. Somehow he made it to his desk, eyes never leaving the ring.

 

“Jounouchi,” Anzu said. “He's obsessed with that thing!”

 

“Is that supposed to be my fault? I'm sorry he likes my gift more that yours!” Jounouchi said.

 

“He's not even paying attention, look at him!” Anzu nodded in his direction.

 

“Well, we're not exactly paying attention, either.”

 

“But that's not Yugi. He always pays attention. Now he's just looking at that stupid ring.”

 

“Hey,” Jounouchi said. “Don't call it stupid!”

 

Anzu sighed. “Look, he fell asleep. Does that seem like Yugi to you?”

 

Jounouchi gave a look of concern for his friend. He reached out and poked Yugi. “Hey, Yugi.” When he didn't get an answer, he repeated the action. “Yugi. Hey, wake up.” Again, no response.

 

“Did he stay up all night or something?”

 

Just then Yugi fell out of the desk hitting the linoleum floor underneath him. There was just enough noise to bring attention to the teen, stopping the lesson in the process.

 

“Mr. Mutou,” the teacher said. “Stop playing games!”

 

When Yugi didn't get up, Jounouchi became worried. He walked over to Yugi shaking him gently. “Yugi, man, you gotta wake up.” When there was no answer, Jounouchi picked him up and headed for the door.

 

“I'm taking him to the nurse.” He said. Before the teacher could protest he had already left the room.

***

 

He had been sitting on the couch all day watching pointless talk shows on the TV. Some of the subjects were slightly entertaining, such as “Are they men, or women?”, but most were just horrible depictions of human lives.

 

Who would honestly go on national TV to humiliate themselves? Yami thought. Imbeciles. They are all complete idiots.

 

His thoughts were interrupted by the annoying ring of their telephone. He muted the TV and reached over to answer it.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hey Yami?” a familiar voice said. “It's Jounouchi. Yugi fell asleep in class and he won't wake up.”

 

“What?”

 

“We've tried everything we could think of. He just won't wake up. It's like he's in a coma or something.” Jounouchi said. “We brought him to the hospital. You should get here right away.”

 

“I'm leaving now.” Yami said as he hung up the phone. A coma? He grabbed his jacket as he headed for the door. He was fine this morning! What could have happened?

***

 

He raced down the blindingly white hallways, refusing to slow down as requested upon. There was somewhere he needed to be, and he wasn't getting there fast enough.

 

He stopped in front of a door, looking at the occupation list to find his aibou. After finding it to be the correct room, he slowly walked in.

 

“Aibou,” Yami said.

 

Yugi was lying on his back, eyes closed and mind in a deep sleep. He looked normal, like nothing was wrong with him at all. Yami cursed himself for not being with him at school, and cursed this gap that he put between them.

 

“The doctors said he'll be fine,”

 

Yami turned around to see Jounouchi. “Do they know what happened?”

 

Jounouchi stepped around Yami to get up next to Yugi. He moved a strand of Yugi's hair out of his face, reveling in the softness of Yugi's skin. “He gave me quite the scare. I don't think I'd ever been so scared in my life.”

 

Yami could only stare at Yugi.

 

“You know,” Jounouchi pulled his hand back. “When the nurse was on the phone with the doctors, she was listing off different conditions he could have.” He looked over at Yami. “Nerve damage, brain damage. That's what scared me the most.”

 

“They ruled those out, right?” Yami asked, eyes still locked on his aibou.

 

“Not yet.”

 

Yami sighed, taking a seat next to Yugi. He grabbed his left hand and pulled it to his face, kissing it gently. “Aibou,” he began. “I'm so sorry.” He kissed the hand again, making contact with cool metal. He stared at the ring that was still on Yugi's finger before letting out a small chuckle.

 

Jounouchi looked his direction, a look of question on his face.

 

“He's still wearing it,” Yami said. “But it's a different color.” He brought his other hand to Yugi's head, running his hands through the soft locks of hair. “You gave a great gift, Jounouchi. It's accurate even now.”

 

Jounouchi looked over at the ring, its color now shining a dark gray. “I'll be damned.” He said. “That's a funny little joke it's playing. Gray, ha. That stands for exhaustion.”

 

Yami smirked. “I'll say it again, Jounouchi. That was a great gift.”

 

Jounouchi smiled. “Thanks.” He then walked toward the door. “I'm going to get something to eat. I feel better knowing that he's not alone.” A pause. “Do you want me to get you something?”

 

“No thank you,” Yami said. “I don't have much of an appetite.”

 

“Alright.”

 

With Jounouchi gone, Yami leaned in closer to Yugi. “He really did give you that as a form of endearment.” He said, pulling Yugi's hand back to his face, holding it against his cheek. “Aibou, please wake up.”

 

As if almost on cue Yugi's eyes began to flutter open. “Where am I?”

 

“Aibou?” Yami said. “Aibou! You're awake!”

 

Yugi sat up, rubbing his head. “What happened? What's goin—” he was then interrupted by Yami pulling him into a needy embrace. “Yami?”

 

“You scared me, aibou.” Yami said. “You scared us all.” He pulled back and looked into Yugi's eyes, taking a hold of his left hand once more. “You've been in the hospital for a few hours. They think you were in a coma.”

 

“I see,” Yugi said. He looked down at the hand that Yami was grasping, eyes gazing at the ring. Yami looked down as well, seeing the color change to blue.

 

“That thing amazes me,” Yami said, looking back at Yugi. For a split second, he thought he could see a flash of blue in his eyes.

 

“It amazes me too,” Yugi said.

 

Yami just pulled Yugi into another warm hug. Yugi returned the hug, though his eyes glanced back at the ring. His mouth formed a small smile.

 

And a blonde just looked in from the doorway.

***

 

So this is my new story. Hopefully I will continue it. You know, maybe update it more than once a year. We'll see! Please review.