The Power of the Pharaoh (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 1: The Going and the Gone

"Do not open this envelope until you are all alone and safely home, not another duelist can know of these cards' existence..."

Those words rang in Yugi's mind as he thought back to his meeting with Pegasus that occurred not even a half-hour ago. It had been exactly one year since the ceremonial duel where the Pharaoh had left Yugi for the afterlife, and Yugi was still struggling to cope without him. Improvements have been made though, he was in a much better state than he was a year ago. The one question that really nagged him was, why would Pegasus give him such special cards if no duelist was ever supposed to know about them?

The young man was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the car come to a halt. Yugi turned to look out the window and saw the familiar building of his home. "15.75", the voice of the man who sat in the front seat said as he held out his large, hairy hand. Yugi took out his wallet and gave the man a twenty, "Keep the change". Yugi then opened the door after he heard the driver unlock the car. The young male closed the door and watched the man drive away before he turned back to the game shop that stood before him. Yugi could only sigh as he trudged into his home.

Yugi heard the car continue driving off in the distance before the chirpy sound of a bell rung overhead as he opened the door to the game shop. Already having seen the 'Sorry, we're closed!' sign on the door, Yugi simply walked into the back of the game shop which led to a staircase. Climbing up the stairs, the door to his Grandpa's room soon came into view. Before Yugi opened the white, oak door to check on his grandpa he pressed his ear against the door to see if he could hear the usual, pitiful moans and groans of pain from behind the door. Hearing nothing but light snoring and the whirring of the air conditioner coming from the room, Yugi quietly opened the door and silently made his way over to the bedside.

A small smile graced Yugi's lips as he saw the elder man sleeping peacefully, much different then what was currently happening. Only a few months after the ceremonial duel, Yugi's grandfather had a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest. The doctor had told them that he was lucky to be alive now, but luck definitely wasn't on their side after that. Yugi and his grandfather had frequent trips to the hospital, both appointments and sudden visits. The elder man was often bedridden, barely able to move his old muscles and much less walk. He was always begging for water as his throat got very dry from all the heavy breathing he did when he was only sitting up in his bed.

Yugi sighed heavily and quickly switched out the pillows and blankets for fresher ones and threw the others into the laundry basket, deciding to do laundry the next day instead. Of course he loved helping his grandfather but sometimes it got very tiring, especially when he had already spent the day exhausting his brain and energy at school. Opening the door to his own room, Yugi practically collapsed on his soft bed. Seeing his Kuriboh plushie nearby, he grasped the plush stuffed toy and hugged it close to his chest which suddenly started to hurt. Not physically, but a deep emotional scar seemed to only get deeper the longer he held that memory filled toy. It was a gift that Yami had given him for his birthday...

Flashback!

"Aw! He's so cute!", Yugi exclaimed as he hugged the Kuriboh toy tightly. "The minute I saw it, I started thinking of you", a deep, baritone voice said as Yugi looked up into the transparent crimson eyes of his Mou Hitori no Boku. "Thank you Pharaoh, you're the best!", Yugi said to Yami and hugged him around the neck. He was surprised at first but soon simply smiled and embraced the shorter teen by wrapping his arms around Yugi's petite waist innocently...

Flashback End!

Tears gathered on Yugi's thick lashes before he suddenly sat up and threw the stuffed toy across the room, realizing holding onto it would only cause more pain. Yugi was about to flop back down on the bed and try to fall asleep when he heard a sudden crash. He whipped his head to his desk where a picture frame and glass shards were scattered beneath it. Yugi mentally scolded himself before he got off his bed and carefully walked over to the mess. He crouched down, cautiously picked up the picture frame and took one look at it before immediately throwing it back down.

They were all there, all of his friends including Yami and him. He remembered being so happy when they took the picture together, but now just one look at it made him burst into tears. They had all left him, starting with Yami and ending with Joey. First went Téa, she took the first flight to New York to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a dancer after she graduated high school. Then went Tristan, he and Serenity became a thing and were currently staying in Paris after Tristan had won two tickets from off some radio show. Lastly went the person Yugi thought would always be by his side, Joey. After high school, Joey finally came out of the closet and told the gang that he was in a relationship with the one and only Seto Kaiba. To keep up with the fast-paced lifestyle of the CEO, Joey decided to go to law school and become a lawyer.

Because all his friends had such big jobs and dreams, they were all so far apart. Thankfully Yugi was no longer a high schooler so he didn't have to worry about anyone picking on him. But that did raise the question, when was Yugi going to finally start thinking about his own future instead of being stuck in the past? Well, obviously not any time soon. He was still the King of Games that everyone recognized and praised, he was still entering and winning every tournament that came up, he was still running the game shop whenever his grandfather couldn't which was starting to become very often. Yugi knew, how could he not? His grandfather was gonna leave just like the rest of them, and then he'd really be all alone. Everyone had left him so far and Yugi could do nothing about it, he knew friends do come and go but isn't family supposed to stay forever? Forever didn't seem so 'forever' anymore.

All this thinking and crying was starting to give the young man a headache so he shakily got up from the floor where he was previously kneeling and simply kicked the picture underneath the desk before crawling into his bed. He took a look at the little envelope that Pegasus said contained the extremely rare cards that no duelist should ever know about, much less use, good or bad. Yugi figured if he opened it he would probably either get a huge disappointment or another heap of questions so he just decided to do it in the morning. Besides, a guy needs his rest right? Well, he sure thought so.