Yay! Another new story! I actually had forgotten about this one. I think I started writing it 2 summers ago and it's just kind of been sitting on my hard drive. I stumbled over it the other day when I was searching for something and figured I'd work on it some more.

It's based loosely on the Mediator series by Meg Cabot. And I mean loosely too. It was born from that story inspiring it, but as any good author knows, the story's final plot got changed quite a bit. And so here is the first chapter of Underneat the Starlight.

Disclaimer: I do NOTown Yugioh or the Mediator series. They belong to their respected authors and I'm just writing this out of fun. No money was made, or hurt, in the process of this making.

Enjoy!

Arizona

A sigh. A single sigh was all that was heard from the backseat of the old Ford Taurus. A boy who looked 12, but was really 17, rested his head against the window and idly watched the surrounding desert pass by. He had grown up in Japan all of his life… until now. His grandfather, Solomon Motou had decided that it was time for them to move to a different place. Yugi wouldn't have minded if Solomon had moved them to someplace still in Japan. But noooo, he had to move them to the United States. More specifically, Arizona. To the desert. Where the nearest neighbor was like 10 miles away. Okay, so not really 10 miles, but it seemed like that to Yugi. He was used to a sprawling metropolis. Huge buildings shooting up for miles into the sky. And then they moved here. Where there was absolutely nothing.

Nothing!

Yugi was more than slightly mad. He was angry. Why did they have to move all the way to Blackwater, Arizona? He was perfectly happy living in Domino. Sure, he didn't mind the country. He loved going out to the country side in Japan. He had enjoyed it on the occasions that they had gone, because it was so different to the busy city that he was used to. If going out into the country had been the only problem, Yugi might not have been so mad. What made him mad was the fact that he had to move not only halfway across the earth, but away from his friends as well. Anzu and Honda were his best friends. And while they promised to keep in touch, he knew that they had their own lives and probably wouldn't have time for him. He sighed gloomily again and continued to stare out the window.

He knew that people were probably going to find him more than a little strange, and not only for his looks. Oh, sure, his looks were a bit peculiar, what with his multi-colored spiky hair and his vibrant amethyst eyes. And no, it was all natural. He had been born with ebony black hair tipped in purple with blonde bangs, and large shining purple eyes. And it might have seemed a little weird to some, but what made people really stay away from him was his particular ability.

Yugi Motou could see ghosts.

Not just see ghosts, he could also talk to them and touch them. Not in that "hand-goes-through-them-way" but more in a way where he could touch them and it would be like he was touching another living being. His grandfather called it a gift. Yugi called it a curse. Once it was found out about his "gift," ghosts of all ages flocked to him. Begging his help in solving whatever it was that was holding them to earth. Normally, he wouldn't mind. Some ghosts actually were nice, and he enjoyed helping them. Usually it was just passing a message along, or finding a certain thing to give to one of their loved ones, and then, poof! They were gone. Onto the next life, or where ever it was that ghosts went to. It was the other ones that made Yugi think of it as a curse. The ones that would come looking for him to hurt him. Some ghosts didn't want to move on merely because they liked hanging around and terrorizing people. It was these kinds of ghosts that hated Yugi because they were afraid that he would somehow try to get rid of them. It was true that he could if he wanted to. He knew all sorts of exorcism rites and all that, but he only used them when necessary. Which hadn't been all that often. Most of the time, the ghosts would either pass on by their own free will, or when they realized that Yugi wasn't going to harm them, they'd go away and leave him alone. There were a few instances where a couple of ghosts wouldn't leave, and kept trying to hurt him. It was these times where he would be forced to exorcize them. He didn't like doing it, but he had to do what was necessary in order to survive.

He also avoided old places because of this. The older the place, the more chances there were to have someone hanging around. And Yugi never went looking for ghosts. No, they always came to him, so he didn't need to. But don't get him wrong, he loved helping them out. It made him happy to help the ghosts that came to him. He just didn't like it when they found it necessary to pop into the shower with him. Now that was just annoying and awkward. And the ghosts had a really horrible sense of timing. They'd come at all hours of the day and night. When he was eating breakfast, daydreaming out the window at school, doing his homework and the most annoying: right when he was just about asleep. If it hadn't been such a painful process, he would have exorcised every single ghost that did that, regardless of if they wanted it or not.

He lifted his head when the car turned off of the main highway and down a two lane road. Within a few minutes, the town crept into view. With another bored sigh, Yugi looked out the window as the town slowly passed by. It was bigger than he expected it to be, what with having 2 fairly large grocery stores, a small mall, and more restaurants than he could count. It wasn't anything like Domino, but he'd give it the benefit of the doubt. It at least looked like there was something to do if he got bored. He wouldn't hold his breath, though. He spotted a small movie theatre on their way through the town and sighed in relief. Now if only he could guarantee that the movies they showed there were up to date movies and not old black and whites from a bye gone era. Yugi's grandfather turned down another road that led out of town. The homes and businesses gave away to more dust and rocks the farther they got away from town until it was quite a few minutes between houses. If he had to guess, he would have to say that they were about an hour's drive from town. And considering he hadn't gotten his license yet, that meant riding his bike. He mentally groaned and resisted the urge to bang his head against the window. The road gave way to dirt, then to a one car road the closer they got to their new house. Eventually the road melted into what Yugi assumed to be their driveway. It was a good half mile of bouncing down the driveway before the house came into view. Yugi was awed and scared at the same time. It was a big beautiful house with three stories. It was completely white with black shutters, though one would be hard pressed to say that. The paint was peeling and falling off, leaving behind a dark grey like look to the house. The black of the shutters had long since faded away. It was an old elegant looking house, but that didn't comfort Yugi very much. Where there was old, there were ghosts. This house more than likely wouldn't be the exception. Yugi could only hope that it was a child for a ghost. He could handle children. The car stopped at the front of the house just in front of the porch. Both he and his grandfather climbed out, Yugi staring at the house nervously. He reached in and grabbed the bag that held his laptop and iPod. Without taking his eyes off of the house, he swung the bag over his shoulder and followed his grandfather up the steps. The movers had already brought most of their things earlier in the week, so they didn't really have to unpack anything from the car. As Yugi headed in the door, a curtain upstairs ruffled in a non-existent breeze.

The inside of the house was beautiful, but practical. Right in front of the door were a set of steps that led upstairs to the bedrooms. To the right of the staircase was a fairly big living room and to the left was a large beautiful looking dining room. Directly behind that was a moderate sized kitchen that was big enough for four people to move about without getting in each other's way too much. His grandfather stretched and looked over the various boxes and pieces of furniture scattered between the living room and dining room. He turned to Yugi with a kind smile, "Why don't you go up and pick out which room you want? I'll stay down here and get things situated before your mother arrives."

Yugi nodded and eagerly headed up the stairs as he said, "Okay Grandpa."

The second floor housed a small study and library. It was no doubt the main reason why his grandfather chose this place to live in. Yugi's mother was a writer and would take advantage of the library in every way. He bypassed both rooms as he headed up to the third floor. There were two fairly large bedrooms on this floor. Each room had its own bathroom and closet space. They were really nice bedrooms, but Yugi was more curious about the open doorway at the back of the hallway. A set of plain steps led upwards to what Yugi assumed to be the attic. He shrugged and headed up the steps, his curiosity getting the better of him. The door at the top of the steps was partially open and he gave a soft push. It creaked as it slid open and Yugi's jaw dropped. The attic had at one point been made into a bedroom and it was huge! The ceiling, which served as the walls as well, was painted white and sloped upwards. The length of the room seemed to go the entire length of the house, making it the largest room there. But what made the room perfect were the two round windows on opposite sides of the room. One window overlooked the garden far below the house. Yugi eagerly hurried over to the window and gazed out of it. A small hill in the background shortened the view, but it was still beautiful. He turned to go check out the view from the other window when his eyes widened and he promptly tripped. He fell backwards with a small cry and he landed on his butt. Urgent footsteps hurried up the stairs and his grandpa came rushing into the room as he exclaimed, "Are you okay, Yugi?"

"I'm fine, Grandpa," Yugi said as he stood up and rubbed his butt. He smiled reassuringly at the older man as he continued, "Really, Grandpa, I'm fine. I just tripped, that's all."

"If you're sure…" Grandpa murmured as he cast a critical eye over Yugi before turning and looking over the room, "I'm guessing that this is the room you want?"

"What?" Yugi said as he tore his gaze away from the thing that had caused him to trip in the first place, "Uh… yeah."

"I thought so," Grandpa said as he smiled at Yugi. He waved his hand towards a pile of boxes that Yugi hadn't noticed when he entered the room, "I took the liberty of bringing some of your boxes up already. I kind of figured you'd want this room."

Yugi smiled and wrapped his arms around his grandfather as he gave him a strong hug, "Thanks, Grandpa. When is mom going to arrive?"

Grandpa hugged him back just as tightly before clapping his hands down on Yugi's shoulders, "She should be here before dinner. Speaking of which, any requests?"

"How about pizza?" Yugi asked.

"Sure," Grandpa said as he turned to head down the stairs, "I'll call the local pizza place and order. You go ahead and start unpacking."

"Okay Grandpa," he said. He paused and listened until his grandfather's footsteps faded away. A frown crossed his face as he turned to the other occupant in the room and asked, "And just who are you?"

Shortish intro chapter, I know, but every story starts somewhere.

Don't forget to review and I'll see you in the next chapter!

Jaa!