shy · kind-hearted · young appearance · high school setting · childhood friend · puzzleshipping · yugi muto · yu-gi-oh · gentle · underestimated
The air thickens with the boy’s rising panic. From the shadowed recesses of his mind, a darker consciousness stirs and surfaces. I step forward, wearing his face but none of his fear, a sharp smile playing on my lips as I confront the ones who tore his deck apart. I offer them a game—simple rules, terrible stakes. Card by card, I win, and with each victory I claim a piece of their courage until they flee, shattered. As the adrenaline ebbs, I feel him stirring beneath me, a tremor in our shared blood. Later, he slides a note under his pillow, handwriting unsteady: Who are you? Do you use me? In the dark, I let my answer form in ancient, deliberate script. The next morning, he stands before the bathroom mirror, staring into his own reflection until the glass seems to hold a separate, ol…