Title: Life's Game

Author: RuRuLaLa

Rating: T (subject to change)

Genre: Hurt/Comfort. Drama. Romance. Action

Disclaimer: RuRuLaLa does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its concepts or characters. All rights belong to Konami and Kazuki Takahashi.

Warnings: AU (no magic) Mention of child abuse, some language, !SLASH!, adult themes

Summary: All that Yugi has worked for is quickly torn apart before his eyes. As he tries to rebuild the broken remains of his existence into something he wants, his past slowly forces its way back into his life. The question is; has it come to haunt him, or help him?

Begin Notes: Please enjoy. I really loved writing it!

~oOo~

Prologue

The letter shouldn't have come as a surprise. The bi-weekly payments had stopped coming for how long now? Two, three months? Yugi Mutou did not have the best relationship with his parents; he had made his peace with that long ago. But to tell him they were cutting his finances off through a letter (and typed up by his father's secretary no doubt) was just...it was unprofessional is what it was!

All of the usual disinterested platitudes were laid out on the crisp cream colored paper. I am sorry to inform you...your financial situation seems stable since your period of emancipation and your academic prowess has not suffered...this latest step in independence will hopefully help you become a man...Signed Rokujou Nakamura, Chairmen of Nakamura Industries. Yugi's throat felt tight and there was a slight burning in the corner of his eyes. The letter blurred a little, as if he were watching it through foggy glass. A few small drops of water plopped onto the paper, breaking through his glass vision, smudging where his father couldn't be assed to write a "sincerely".

Yugi knew that a personal confrontation would be no different. Rokujou would be mechanical and curt, as if he couldn't wait to finish the conversation with his son, but unfailingly polite. Yugi's father was a controlled man and completely disinterested in time wasters. The one time Yugi had seen him fly off the handle was the reason he was in this situation in the first place. Emancipated when he was fourteen, living alone in a small barely put together apartment, working a job that could not always pay rent and put food on the table at the same time, his parents grudgingly helping him with his fees...Yugi idly rubbed at the small scar on his stomach.

Still, he would have liked to speak about something like this in a less impersonal fashion. The payments were the last excuse he had to keep in contact with his parents, even if it was only brief meetings where they analyzed Yugi's spending that month. Severing the payments would essentially sever the last, albeit tenuous, ties with his mother and father...

As his eyes dazedly roved over the text again, a particular line gave him sudden pause; "...and seeing how you're willing to spend over twenty-two hundred dollars within a few days I can see that you're financial issues are not as dire as they were previously..."Yugi re-read the sentence, eyes wild, but the second reading made no more sense than the first. Twenty two hundred WHAT! Yugi didn't make that much money in a YEAR, and even if he did he would never just spend it all in one day! He racked his brain for some kind of explanation. The only thing he could think of was that time he had lost his credit card a while back, but he found it quick enough and the bank hadn't said anything about any outstanding purchases when he called. If someone else had found it there was no way they could spend that much money within a few days could they?

"Yugi Mutou?"

Yugi quickly wiped his wet eyes with his sleeve before turning around. This month's Hall Monitor, Téa Gardner, was standing beside his locker, a yellow piece of paper in her hand.

"Uh..." he cleared his throat. It felt dry and like there was a lump stuck in it. He wished he had a glass of water, or better yet, that he could crawl into a small space and disappear forever. "Yes, uh can I help you?"

"The principle wants you in his office." Tea added nothing else, just stared at him. Anyone else would be unnerved, but Yugi had long since grown used to people gaping at him in disgust or curiosity. He was, overall, an unusual looking person. Most of his black hair stood on top of his head and fanned out like a star, bleeding seamlessly into magenta at the tips, while his fringe, blond in color, messily framed his face. His eyes were large and his face was round, making him appear younger than he actually was. He was thin with pretty much no muscles to speak of, and on top of all that he was the shortest Senior in Domino High, if not the shortest student in school. And always around his neck, like a faithful companion of tackiness, was a rope connected to a large, golden inverted pyramid with the eye of Horus on the front. In the eyes of judgmental teenagers he may as well have been a sideshow freak.

When she continued to stare Yugi gestured at the paper she held. "Is that for…?"

Tea flushed prettily. "Oh! I'm so sorry er…here! It's a permission slip, in case you're late for class."

Hall monitors usually gave out passes at their own discretion. Yugi appreciated the gesture greatly, even if it was a minuscule favor in her eyes, and quietly thanked her before heading towards the principal's office.

He barely registered the trek there, his head was so full of questions and concerns. Chiefly among those were his father's letter and how Yugi had lost all that money without knowing. Several scenarios went through his head, but the only plausible explanation involved his father seeing the loss of money and paying the difference before Yugi had checked it and obviously not saying a thing about it until now. A cruel notion yes, but cruelty was certainly not an odd character trait for his father.

The more Yugi wrapped his mind around the idea the more sense it made. He felt a brief flash of relief in getting that closure before his anxieties arose anew and focused on his next monumental issue; how would he support himself now?

Asking his parents to continue their previous payment plan was out of the question. Even if Yugi was willing to modify the terms (which he certainly would be. It was irresponsible of him to lose the card in the first place, and frankly less money was better than none) in light of what had happened, they wouldn't help. His parents did not want to give him any money. They had never said so, but they never had to.

Once Yugi reached the Office he went up to the front desk, standing on tiptoe in order to see over it. The receptionist, a young woman named Melody who had dyed her hair a light blue this week, was typing something on a webpage that was more than likely some social network. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

She whirled around, the yellow ribbon tying her hair up in a cute ponytail swishing in her face. "Oh-hee-hoe Yugi!" she chirped with a bright smile. "What can I do for you today?"

Yugi resisted the urge to chuckle at her mispronunciation, instead saying: "Ohayou Gozaimasu, Melody-san." The cheerful woman squealed with glee and clapped her hands like a giddy school girl. Ms. Melody, for whatever reason, was completely fascinated with the fact that he was Japanese. Yugi knew she wasn't trying to be condescending, not like a lot of the other faculty in the school. She had a kind spirit and a very excitable personality, and would probably be quite stricken if she realized she was being offensive, so he indulged her with the occasional phrase or greeting in his native tongue. "I think the Principal wanted to see me."

"Oh yes, that's right." Her demeanor dimmed slightly. So this was about something bad. "He'll be with you in a few minutes. Just take a seat and I'll call you when it's your turn, ok?"

Yugi nodded and headed towards the plastic orange chairs aligned against the wall. He wondered what the Principle could want with him. Yugi was an excellent student; he had to be if he wanted to get a scholarship for a good art school. His councilor often praised him on his continuous perfect grades and the fact that he was in the top 5% in terms of exam scores state wide. His biggest worry, however, was his Athletic performance. Yugi barely passed any of his P.E. classes, and that was only if the teacher felt sorry for him. He suspected this pity stemmed from his perpetual bad health. He had been born a month premature and with a great deal of ailments that had been recessive on his father's side. Yugi resented the fact that some teachers thought him so weak that they made him sit out on the endurance tests, later giving him an automatic pass. He told them often enough that he would rather fail than get a grade he didn't work for, but they wouldn't hear any of it. They fancied themselves doing him a tremendous favor, after all.

Perhaps the Principal had caught wind of his unfair grading? Could he be punished for something he had no control over? Attempted to correct even? There were plenty of witnesses to his disagreement with the coaches, but who would vouch for him, Yugi Mutou: the bug-eyed short kid with the stupid hair and no friends?

"The Principal will see you now, Yugi," said Ms. Melody. As he passed her she smiled, adding quietly: "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be cleared up soon."

Far from reassuring him, her words only heightened his anxiety. It was in her tone, in the worried sheen in her dark blue eyes; this was about more than his sketchy P.E. grades.

"Good morning Yugi, please take a seat." Principal Hawkins gestured to the chair in front of his desk. Yugi sat down hesitantly. Somehow he felt it would be better if he took this news standing up.

"'Morning Sir," Yugi murmured, fiddling with his pendent. Principal Hawkins was not a particularly forbidding person. He was an elderly man, probably in his mid fifties. Everything about him was organized, from the neatly stacked papers on his desk to his large perfectly trimmed mustache. He was a fair Principal, was the student consensus, nice even, but that was only because he was so uninvolved with the school. Principal Hawkins was hardly ever seen outside of his office, not even for Rallies or Assemblies. Yugi thought it was strange how his peers had pretty much formed an opinion about someone they never interacted with. Strange, but not unexpected. It seemed to be the nature of teenagers.

"Do you know why you're here today, Yugi?" Yugi shook his head no. Principal Hawkins sighed. "I won't beat around the bush then…There have been accusations of cheating and plagiarism by several parties…"

Yugi's stomach clenched, his mouth went dry. Cheating? Cheating! He had never cheated or copied someone in his life! How could – Who would say – It felt like his brain had stalled, and cheating!Cheater!Cheater was all that would reverberate in his skull.

"Wh-wha – " he managed to jibber out. It was a pathetic excuse for talking.

"Your SAT's, a few of your final tests, and that essay you submitted for your scholarship are being cross examined."

"But I…I didn't…"

Principal Hawkins sighed again, his gaze a little more sympathetic. "It wouldn't be so serious if a few teachers hadn't vouched for a thorough examination and well…I know you are a good student Yugi, I know you've worked very hard for all your grades and I want to believe that this is all rubbish, but unfortunately I have to abide by school protocol…" He shrugged his shoulders in a helpless sort of way. "You're to be suspended for the duration of the examination. You are to report to each of your teachers where they will give you a packet of study material so you do not fall behind. Do you," another sigh, "Do you have any questions Yugi?"

Why? Why would anyone do this? Who would go out of their way to try and ruin him like this? Why would anyone bother with insignificant little Yugi?

"No Sir."

The Principal gave him a long look that Yugi couldn't decipher. "Well if you do later you can always call the school. Make sure to collect everything out of your locker after you get the packets." He turned his attention to a stack of papers, tapping them vertically against his desk. All of them were blank and had no need to be straightened. A dismissal as any other.

Yugi retrieved his work packets in a sort of daze. From the looks his teachers were giving him, they were all up to date on Yugi's situation. A few of them seemed sympathetic, but it was clear that the rest had judged him already and the verdict was guilty. Would his grandpa look at him that way too? No, Sugoroku Mutou was never overtly angry. He just gave you this look that translated all the disappointment he felt in you without saying a single word. It made Yugi feel like garbage the few times his grandfather had leveled him with it, worse than any of his father's scathing remarks or his mother's apathy. 'Gramps knows I'd never cheat. He'll believe me,' he thought determinedly. His grandpa was the only person who cared about him really. Him and his older brother Yami. 'Yami would definitely believe me. I bet he would go on a rampage trying to figure out who accused me too, if he were still alive.' Yugi chuckled as he imagined his brother storming the halls, shoving people twice his size up against the lockers and abusing all of the techniques he had learned in the army in his quest to find answers.

By the time he reached his Honors English class his teacher, Ms. Cookie (1), was well into her lecture. Yugi tried to be discreet as he waited for Ms. Cookie to turn his attention to him before muttering "excuse me". Ms. Cookie's head snapped towards his direction. She scowled deeply, the liposuction causing her cheeks to stretch unnaturally. Yugi audibly gulped, much to the amusement of the students. Of all the teachers in Domino High Ms. Cookie was the only one who was blatantly malicious towards Yugi. Whatever it was about him that set her off could not be quelled, no matter that he always did as she instructed and was the quietest and most attentive in his class.

"You are late Mutou, thirty minutes late," she said. "At this point I don't see why you even bothered to show up, since you already have an automatic zero for participation today." She folded her arms across her ample chest, now one size bigger than last week. She seemed to be getting her breast implants in increments (was that even possible? Yugi wondered), perhaps in an attempt to hide the fact that they weren't real. But if someone of Yugi's inclination, whose interest drifted towards the male form, had noticed than she was surely failing in her subtlety. "And frankly I know some of us were relieved that the room would be less…" she stared pointedly at his hair, "bright today."

Some of the students snickered at her comment. Most of them just looked uncomfortable.

Yugi shuffled his feet and tried to stand up straight, even if he wanted to shrink into the corner. "A-actually ma'am, I'm just here to pick up a packet. I-I think Principle Hawkins told you about it…"

"What – oh! Yes, your packet." A slow, horrible smile formed on her face. Yugi's eyes widened. He actually felt the blood drain rapidly from his face. The urge to throw up was strong. He swallowed painfully against it. Please, please no. Don't do this! Don't talk about it here! "Are you sure you even need it. I doubt you will be coming back to school after this. I mean, the decision has practically been made already."

Yugi didn't say a word. Just mentally chanted; 'not here, not here, not here please…'

Ms. Cookie smirked as if she had already one some kind of battle. "Class, I'll be back in a moment, don't screw around." She went into the back room where all of the file cabinets were stored.

Excited whispers broke out in the classroom. Yugi didn't think that anyone knew what was going on yet. It was just the type of drama that a small school like Domino High thrived on, and with Ms. Cookie's cryptic remarks it only fueled the need for gossip.

Yugi tried his best to ignore all the comments and focus on what he was going to tell Grandpa. His grandfather was under enough stress with running his shop; it sold the most amazing and esoteric board and puzzle games you could ever find, but it was sadly not the most financially lucrative business with the market catering to video games. But Yugi felt so lost, with his money issues and his parents and the threat of being kicked out of high school….he just – he didn't want to be a burden but he didn't know what to do anymore…

"I can't believe – damn, you really went through with it, didn't ya pal?" said Joey Wheeler, his heavy East Coast accent distinctive amongst the gossiping of the other students. He was seated at the corner of the classroom with the other four most popular Seniors at school; Marik Ishtar, Seto Kaiba, Atem Sennen, and Bakura…well, no one besides his friends knew his first name. Whenever a new teacher started to say it during roll call, they were met with a ferocious snarl and a growled out "It's just Bakura" before they could even open their mouth.

"What are you talking about Joey?" Atem responded, smooth and deep voice distracted as he flipped through the book assigned today. He was the first person Yugi had ever seen that had a hairstyle like his that wasn't a Mutou. That was where their similarities ended though. Atem had caramel colored skin, wiry muscles on a lean frame, and narrowed eyes the color of rubies. He wasn't that much taller than Yugi, but with his charisma and confidant attitude he always seemed as if he were towering over the tallest of men.

All during Freshmen year Yugi could remember being taunted for supposedly copying Atem's style, and no one would hear his claims that he was born with this crazy 'do. Whether Atem's hair was natural like Yugi's or not – he never said so, and he never really joined in on heckling Yugi like the rest of the school – the smaller teen agreed that he certainly wore it better.

"Remember, you said you were going to talk to the Principle about the SAT's…"

That got Atem's attention, as he closed his book and looked at Joey sharply. The rest of the voices in the classroom seemed to fade away as Yugi focused in on the conversation as well, barely breathing and as still as a statue.

"It has to be man! You heard what Cookie said…" The blond grinned at him hugely, "I just can't believe you actually told on him," he snickered.

Atem frowned. "And why not? As school President it's only right that I bring this kind of thing to the Board's attention. It's not fair to the other students who studied hard for those tests, only to have someone copy their work and take all the credit for themselves without having to do a thing."

"I dunno about that 'Temmy," Bakura said with a smirk. "It's plenty hard work copying from other people. In fact, I'd say the copier deserves to be rewarded twice as much as the one being copied from."

Atem snorted derisively. "You would think that."

"Are you sure you're not just the slightest bit butthurt that someone got a higher score than you for once?" said Mairk, a little maniacal grin on his face and piercing Atem with a knowing look.

The Domino High President sputtered, flushing angrily. "That's not it at all!"

"Pipe down you idiots," Seto spoke up, cobalt blue eyes riveted on the laptop he had with him at all times. "The school Board will sort out whether he's guilty or not. There is no point arguing about it now."

"You suck the fun out of everything moneybags," Joey said sulkily.

"Only because everything fun in your eyes is completely idiotic…" Seto was about to continue with something more scathing, but then his eyes suddenly locked with the utterly despondent gaze of Yugi Mutou.

Everyone in school admired those five students in the corner in some way. For their good looks, for their popularity, for their money…and Yugi too had fallen prey to the admiration, though not for the same reasons. They were intelligent and strong and people listened to them; they were everything Yugi only dreamed he could be. They were – they were his heroes.

And now….and now…

"You…why?" Yugi's voice was a soft wheezy croak. His breath hitched without his permission, and to his disgust he could feel tears pooling in the corner of his eyes.

"Oh shit! I think he's going to cry!" someone said.

"Jeeze, what a baby. Does he have to do that here?" another said.

More soft jeers joined in. Yugi didn't know who they were, he had eyes only for Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler and Marik Ishtar and Bakura it's just Bakura and Atem Sennen, that begged, begged.

Atem avoided his gaze. Seto sneered at him and went back to his computer.

"Here." A large binder of papers was shoved into his arms. Ms. Cookie loomed over him. "Your other teacher's explained everything to you, right? Good, I'm sure you'll want to get home now," she smirked, "to share the news with your parents."

Yugi walked out of the classroom without another word. He walked to his locker, cleared it out, and then let his forehead rest against the closed metal door.

A happy, upbeat melody suddenly echoed throughout the empty hallway, emanating from his pants pocket.

"I'll eat you up, your love, your looooooove. I'll eat you up, your love, your looooooove. I'll eat you up, so yum yum. Can't get enough, I think I'm in looooooove."(2)

Yugi chuckled a little at the silly Pop song that served as his ring tone. He made no move to answer it. He didn't want to deal with Bill Collectors at the moment. They could wait until he had a proper break down at home thank you.

His phone went off again. Strange, they usually only called once and left a message. Unless two different debters had called at the same time? That happened occasionally but…

"…Can't get enough, I think I'm in loooooove."

Yugi scrambled for his phone and flipped it open. No Bill Collector was that persistent. "H-hello," he breathed out wearily.

"Hello, may I speak to a Mr. Yugi Mutu please?"

"This is he," Yugi said without bothering to correct them.

"Hi, this is Detective Valon from the Domino City Police Department, and I regret to inform you that there's been a break in at Sugoruko Mutu's Game Shop."

"What! Oh Gods, is – is Grandpa ok?"

There was a long pause where only the slightest sound of static and the Detective's breathing could be heard. A horrible sharp pain resonated through Yugi's chest. He couldn't get enough air. He clutched the phone so tightly the plastic frame cracked. He couldn't breathe!

The school bell rang. Students milled out of their respective classrooms with hurried disorder; laughing, chatting, yelling…

"I'm sorry Mr. Mutu, but he was dead when we arrived. It seems the robbery took place when your grandfather opened the store early this morning. From what we can tell the assailant was a professional; do you know if your grandfather had any…" The Detective sighed deeply, muttering: "Damnit, I can't do this kind of shit over the phone. If you could meet with us later at the Station Mr. Mutu, we have a few questions for you…Mr. Mutu? Mr. Mutu?"

The phone fell through limp fingers. Students passed him by, glancing back occasionally and whispering to their friends about his frozen figure.

A boy, taller than him as most students were, ran into him. Hard enough to jar his shoulder and knock his necklace off his neck.

Yugi stared as the pyramid fell to the ground. It connected with the concrete with a solid CRASH, the gold pieces scattering in a pile.

An expensive wingtip shoe stepped on one of the pieces, the Eye of Horus center piece.

"Look Ojii-chan! I finished it, I finally finished it!"

"Well done Yugi! I knew you would complete it, my clever little tenshi!" His squat old grandfather easily lifted him into the air, spinning around as their laughter mingled as one. At 7 years old Yugi felt no embarrassment about being swung around like a toddler; kind touches were so few and far between for him.

"You know Yugi, that puzzle is very special to our family."

"It is?" Yugi's even tinier fingers carefully twirled the hunk of gold around, amethyst eyes examining every crevice. "I thought it was just game."

"Oh no, it's more than that little one. You see, it was the first archeological artifact us Mutou's ever found in Egypt, waaaaaaaay back in the 1900's."

"Wow! This thing is really old then. And like a treasure too, right Ojii-chan?"

"Better than a treasure, it's an heirloom."

"Heirloom?"

"That's right. The oldest Mutou who is in possession of this puzzle takes it apart and gives it to who they think is worthy of solving it in the family."

"O-oh, um…shouldn't you have given this to Yami ni-san?" Yugi questioned timidly, as if his grandfather would snatch his prize away from him at the suggestion. "He-he's way smarter than me, and I-I bet he would have solved it faster too."

His grandfather got a strange expression on his face, and there was something in his plum colored eyes that Yugi couldn't figure out at all. "Hmm, well I don't know about smarter, but your ni-san is definitely more impatient. He would have thrown the puzzle down the toilet if he couldn't figure it out in 30 minutes or less."

Yugi giggled at the image. He loved Yami more than anything but he had a shorter fuse than a stick of dynamite.

"And you know Yugi, as long as you have that puzzle, you'll always have a piece of me with you. Even when I'm gone."

"Gone!" Yugi said, alarmed. "I don't want you to go ojii-chan! Please don't go!"

"There, there, Yugi-tenshi. It's ok," he cuddled the small boy closer, rocking him back and forth like he did when Yugi was a baby, and when he was constantly on edge that this day would be the premature child's last. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. But when I do, and that won't be for a loooong time yet," he quickly reassured, "I promise you'll see me again."

Yugi sniffled. "Promise?"

"I swear on my latest Gensokyo Paradise Transforamtion Plan edition."(3)

"Ewww ojii-chan, don't swear on hentai! That's naughty!"

His grandfather laughed uproariously. "All right, all right lad. How about I swear on Neko Hime Adventures," he said, referring to Yugi's favorite coloring book. "Is that ok?"

Yugi nodded, smiling. "Mm hm. Love you ojii-chan."He snuggled back into his grandfather's embrace.

"Love you too my little Yugi-tenshi. You're going to be someone great someday. Ojii-chan knows it."

The shoe rose off the ground. Seto Kaiba scowled down at him. "Move your junk out of the way Mutou, before someone get hurt."

Yugi opened his mouth slightly to…what? Apologize? Tell him off? Scream and scream and SCREAM.

He closed his mouth and slid to the floor, silent tears slowly rolling down his face his rebuttal.

Seto snorted, shaking his head in disgust as he walked off.

Atem Sennen sighed like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. There was a mixture of pity and frustration in his garnet eyes as he gazed down at Yugi's form. "Yugi, it's Yugi right? One of these days you're going to need to grow a back bone, you'll never make it in this world if you don't. Remember that, would you?" And then he walked off after his cousin.

"Yugi Mutou," Bakura said slowly, mean amusement glinting in his dark brown eyes. "Thought I recognized that name. I've been meaning to find you, to give you my thanks for the credit card I mean. It was fun splurging on myself, don't get to do that too often, you know?" And then he walked off after Atem.

Joey looked between him and the retreating form of Bakura, before hurrying after him. "Eh, what card are ya talkin' about? What's going on?"

"Heh, heh, you're gonna love this story Wheeler…"

Marik just graced him with a wider, creepy smile, and walked off with his hands behind his wild head of platinum blond hair.

Yugi picked up the Eye of Horus piece. It was dented and chipped. The stylized eye seemed accusing. He closed his fist around it, and held it up to his heart.

"Ojii-chan," Yugi whispered to nothing, a few more tears slipping down his cheek.

"…as long as you have that puzzle, you'll always have a piece of me with you. Even when I'm gone…"

~oOo~

End Chapter

1. My made up American Ms. Chono incarnation.

2. Song: Eat You Up, by BoA

3. Found this random manga on manga dot hentai dot ms forward slash. Ahem, not that I was looking for Hentai or anything, just looking for the goofiest sounding title…of course. #side long look#

End Notes: This story will have a great deal of Season 0, the English Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime, and the Manga elements and characteristics in it. Names, origins, personality traits will all be mixed and matched or left the same. Some will be obvious, others may be more of a homage than an actual reference. For those of you who didn't notice, Domino is taking place in America (much like the English anime vaguely alluded to) while Yugi and his family remain the only Japanese characters…so far.

The story plan looks to be epic. We'll see how it goes.

Don't forget to Read and Review please with lots of love on top!