Yu-Gi-Oh!
Balance

CHAPTER ONE – MORNING ANTICS AT THE MUTOU HOUSE

At eight 'o clock in the morning, the children of the Mutou residence atop the Kame Game Shop in Domino City, Japan were normally still fast asleep. However, if one pressed their ear against the door closest to the stairs, they might be able to hear the sound of a cloth rubbing on metal. Inside the small bedroom, a short young boy was sitting cross-legged on his makeshift bed on the floor. He had a soft cloth in one hand and a gleaming trophy in the other, which reflected the huge smile on his face.

Suddenly a drowsy voice came behind him. "Draco-kun, no matter how much you shine that thing, it's not going to get any shinier."

Draco Malfoy looked over his shoulder at his companion on the bed, a grin on his face.

"I can't help it!" he exclaimed softly. "It was my first tournament and I got third place."

Yugi Mutou just raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, and…?"

Draco rolled his eyes as he stood up, going over to a shelf on the other side of the room. He placed his trophy on it, next to three similarly styled trophies and one, much larger one. Okay, so the third place trophy for the third annual Battle City Tournament did not look nearly as impressive as Yugi's three first place Battle City trophies and one Duelist Kingdom grand champion trophy, but it was a start. Draco smiled broadly at his accomplishment while Yugi just rolled over in bed.

"Go back to sleep, Draco-kun," he muttered. Draco frowned before jumping onto the bed, forcing Yugi to sit up.

"C'mon!" Draco exclaimed. "It's past eight, we may as well get up now."

Yugi just glared. The deceptively older boy was by all means not a morning person, and neither was his other half, the spirit of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh everyone fondly called Yami Yugi. He was about to open his mouth to say something, when a black, brown, and white speckled owl swooped in through the window. Resigned to waking up two hours earlier than normal, Yugi held out an arm for Panseru the owl to land on, before taking the envelope he had tied to his leg.

"Hey, it's from Ron," he announced as he opened it up and shook out a folded piece of papyrus of all things and a newspaper clipping. Yugi grabbed the clipping first as Panseru flew off to find some food, smoothing it out before reading aloud:

Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle
Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has
won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize
Galleon Draw.

A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet,
"We will be spending the gold on a summer
holiday in Egypt, where our elder son, Bill, works
as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."

The Weasley family will be spending a month in
Egypt, returning for the start of the new school
year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley
children currently attend.

"Wow," Draco muttered after he finished, "that money will really help them out."

Yugi was about to ask if he knew how much the prize was, when a voice said over his shoulder, "So, he went to Egypt, hunh?"

Draco jumped in surprise, lost his balance, and fell clear off the bed, landing on the floor with a thud. Yugi looked up to see his darker half hovering over his shoulder, faded and translucent as always, observing the picture that came with the article of the seven Weasleys they knew – and one they did not – waving energetically while standing in front of a large pyramid. Draco, in the meantime, climbed back up to his knees, using the side of the bed as support.

"I really hate it when you do that," he declared icily. "Can't you, like, give the rest of us some warning when you're about to show up?"

"You'll get used to it, Draco-kun," Yugi chirped happily.

"I've been living with you for three months, starfish-head," he replied, a note of humor in his voice at using his old name for him. "Guess what: I'm still not used to it."

Yugi chuckled as he picked up the letter that had fallen out. It was written in Ron's untidy scrawl, and it took a moment for him to be able to decipher it.

Dear Yugi and Draco,

How's the summer over in Japan? Hope you're
both doing well.

It's amazing here in Egypt! Bill's taken us to see
most of the tombs. You should see some of the
curses the Egyptian wizards put on them! There
was this one that had mutant skeletons of muggles
that had tried to break in (ask Yami Yugi if he
knows anything about that one, I'd love to hear
his reaction). I bet you'll be learning a lot of them
in Ancient Egyptian magic next year.

Speaking of which, I met this guy here that says
he knows you, Yugi. Kept asking me how you
were doing and stuff. Weird one that; he had
something that looked like an ankh around his
neck. He said he'd be seeing you soon. I hope
that's not a bad thing.

Anyway, we'll be back a week before term
starts to pick up school supplies. Thankfully, I'll
be getting a new wand when we go shopping.
You think we could all meet then?

Try and come to London!

Ron

PS: Percy's made head boy. That's all he's
been talking about since he got his letter.

Both Yugi and Yami Yugi seemed to have the same look of disgust and displeasure on their face. Draco looked between the two of them, confused. They did not fill him in on the details though; they started talking to each other as if he were not there, a habit they had that annoyed him to no end.

"It had to have been him he was talking about," Yami Yugi declared, starting to pace back and forth. "What could he possibly want now?"

"Well, the Millennium Items have been choosing new owners," Yugi pointed out. "Hermione's proof of that. Maybe he knows who's been chosen by the Ankh and the Scale?"

"If he does, I doubt I'd like how he found out," Yami Yugi grumbled, stopping in mid pace and running a hand through his bangs. "The last thing we need is another mad man running around with an insanely powerful Kami-no-Cardo, hell-bent on killing us."

Yugi giggled at that, wondering what Marik would say. In the meantime, Draco had his arms crossed on the bed, his head resting on them. He looked back and forth between the spirit and his hikari, a bit of an annoyed look on his face.

"Do you mind on filling me in?" he asked.

Yugi chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Draco-kun," he said. "If it turns out to be really important, then we'll tell you."

Just then, another owl dived in through the window. It dropped off a large parcel and a few envelopes on Yugi's lap before fluttering up and landing on the top most spike of his hair. Yugi glared up at the bird as Draco and Yami Yugi started howling with laughter.

"That is not a perch!" he exclaimed, swatting the animal away. The owl hooted angrily before diving back out the window. Yugi grumbled angrily before reaching for the first envelope. It was their letter from Hogwarts, with the usual odd address on the front.

Mr. Y. Mutou and Mr. D. Malfoy
The Bedroom next to the Stairs
Kame Game Shop
Domino City
Japan

Yugi broke the wax seal on the back and shook out several enclosed pieces of parchment. Him, Draco, and Yami Yugi pressed their heads together as they read over the main note.

Dear Mr. Mutou and Mr. Malfoy,

Please note that the new school year will begin on
September the first. The Hogwarts Express will
leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and
three-quarters, at eleven o' clock.

Third years are permitted to visit the village of
Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the
enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian
to sign.

A list of books for next year is enclosed.

Yours sincerely,

Professor M. McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

"All right! Hogsmeade!" Draco exclaimed, grabbing up his permission form. "This is going to be great! I've heard they've got loads of different stuff there. You'll really like it, Yugi… Yugi?"

Yugi was not paying attention, however. His focus was drawn to the parcel that the owl had dropped off. He could have sworn he saw it move. Reaching for it, he managed to get a hand on it, when it growled at him. He snapped his hand away from it, a bit freaked out.

"What the hell…?" Draco began.

"Yami Yugi-kun, why don't you open it?" Yugi asked, looking up to his other half. "It can't really hurt you in that form."

Yami Yugi raised an eyebrow, but otherwise did not comment as he picked up the parcel. He tore it open, and caught sight of a beautiful green book cover with gold lettering marking the book as The Monster Book of Monsters, when the book suddenly flipped up on its side and jumped out of his hands, revealing a second book underneath. That book too jumped out of his hands, and soon they had two green books scuttling about the room.

Draco and Yugi dived after one of the books before it could scuttle under the desk. Draco got his hands on it, but ended up backing away from it, howling in pain.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed. "It bit me!"

Yugi managed to grab the book as Draco nursed his hand. The book started munching on his shirt as he rushed to his closet. He grabbed one of his many belts out of the closet and wrapped it tightly around it. Looking down at his pajama shirt sadly, he tossed the shuddering book onto his desk before he caught the sound of his door opening. He turned to see that the other book was scratching at the door like a dog, forcing it open.

"Don't let that out in the hall!" he shouted.

Yami Yugi leapt forward, slamming the door closed before the book could get out. Angry, the book turned on him and bit him on the foot. The spirit let out a yelp, limping away from it as quickly as he could. He may not be able to be hurt in the form he was in, but he could still feel the pain. Draco dived for the last book, coming back up with it struggling in his arms. Yugi tossed him a belt, and the younger boy managed to secure it around the book before tossing it on the desk with the other book and collapsing to the floor.

Yugi plopped down in his desk chair, and Yami Yugi flopped onto his bed, when someone knocked on the door.

"Yugi, honey, what's going on in there?" Yugi's mother said from the other side of the door.

"We're fine, oka-san," Yugi replied, breathing heavily. "Just had to catch a couple books, that's all."

He could just picture the frown on his mother's face, but she did not enter the room. "Well, breakfast is ready, and your grandfather wants both of you to help him in the shop today."

Both Draco and Yugi groaned.

"But, oka-san…!" Yugi protested.

"No buts!" his mother returned, a bit sharply. "You skipped out on it yesterday to go to the arcade, and your grandfather got a large shipment that he had to put away by himself. Now, get moving you two! If both of you aren't downstairs in time for opening, your both grounded."

Yugi and Draco sprung into action at that, scrambling to get dressed. Yugi's mother was not normally so sharp, but when she said that they would be grounded that meant no television (or veletision as Draco called it), no computer, no Playstation 2, no arcade, and no dueling. That alone was enough persuasion to get the two of them moving quickly.

Yugi was hopping up and down on one foot, struggling to put on a boot, as he saw his other half reading the second note that the last owl had delivered. The Egyptian spirit had a half humored; half annoyed look on his face.

"What is it?" Yugi asked.

"Hagrid," Yami Yugi replied. "He's the one that sent us these books."

"Gee, how nice of him," Draco said dryly, slipping his favorite, tunic-like shirt over his head. "Why the heck would he send us a book like that!"

"This is Hagrid we're talking about," Yugi answered. "He has a hard time determining the difference between dangerous and kawaii."

"Hunh?"

"Cute."

"Oh."

-.oOOo.-

Yugi collapsed into bed that night, exhausted from a hard days work and from waking up so early that morning. Fingering the Millennium Puzzle lightly, he found himself staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Him, Draco, Seto Kaiba, Marik Ishitar, and Ryou Bakura (as well as their respective "yamis") would be going back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry soon. Under normal circumstances, he would have been excited, but he could not help but think about the note Ron had sent him.

It had to have been Shadi that the younger boy had encountered in Egypt. After all, who else could it have been? Not many people went walking around with Ankhs around their necks, even in that country. It made him nervous that he would "be seeing him soon".

"Deep thoughts, aibou?"

Yugi turned slightly to see his other half lying on the bed in this opposite direction, his hand propping up his head. He smiled at the spirit in spite of the mood he was in.

"I just can't help but wonder what Shadi really wants with us now," he replied. "I mean, he did enough damage by giving Pegasus the Eye, and then telling Marik some crazy story after his other self killed his father. His track record so far hasn't been too great."

Yami Yugi chuckled at his wording, flopping onto his back. "Well, you know, the only way we're going to know for sure what he wants is when we see him."

"Yeah," Yugi agreed. A sudden thought occurred to him then, and his face scrunched up at it. "Hey, you don't think Shadi was hired to teach Ancient Egyptian Magic, do you?"

A strange sound escaped from Yami Yugi's mouth. "I honestly can't picture him as a teacher," he replied. He twisted around in bed, coming up to lie along side his hikari properly. "Aibou, the only thing we can really do is go to school, and go through it like any other year."

Yugi smirked. "'Like any other year'," he repeated. "You mean, running around, hunting down clues for mysterious circumstances, and ducking away from three headed dogs or gigantic snakes?"

Yami Yugi sweatdropped. "Okay… so hopefully not exactly like every year."