Chapter 8: - Mirror Mirror on the Wall
When Anzu had arrived at the Mutou residence the first thing she had done was sent Jonouchi into the kitchen to prepare a warm drink and ushered Yugi down the hall to have a hot shower. The second thing, after seeing the horrendous bruising that had come up where the metal grill had impacted with Yugi's chest and seeing how much pain her friend was in when she breathed, yet alone coughed or sneezed, was phone a taxi to take them both to the A&E.
Yugi had been seen within a few hours and sent home with some rather powerful painkillers which had dulled the pain completely but had caused her to be so drowsy that she had actually gone to bed in the wrong room and ended up sleeping in the bed that was swiftly becoming known as 'Jonouchi's' while he took up a position on the much less comfortable couch.
Sugoroku had kept Yugi home for the next couple of days, but on the morning of the school festival Yugi had managed to convince him to let her come in since it was only a half day and she was only going to be sat behind the booth's cash register anyway.
Or at least that had been the plan. Someone had been unhappy with the arrangements Oneesan and Inogashira had come to and decided to do some last minute 'renovation' to their class's work. Luckily for the class Jonouchi and Honda had been guarding the booth at the time, since the blonde had expected trouble after Inogashira's little 'change of heart' and had scared off the seniors before they could do more than damage the sign at the entrance, cut the strings on the balloons at the entrance and chuck paint on the shooting range.
This had, however, meant that anyone who had arrived early, as Yugi had, had been drawn into the attempt to rectify these issues before the festival started up properly.
"Be careful," Anzu worried at Yugi as the girl, who had taken some painkillers before she'd come in, helped with the balloons, "You're not supposed to be doing anything..."
"I'm fine." Yugi flashed a smile at her, being very careful not to stretch and aggravate the two ribs that she'd broken, "Besides, even if I wasn't I have to be seen to be doing something." Yugi glanced nervously out of the booth to where Chono-Sensei had passed by for the third time in just over thirty minutes, "This goes towards our grades and I swear Chono-Sensei is stalking our booth..."
"Ignore her Yuge." Jou recommended, having taken that approach to the teacher most of the morning as he prepared to spend the majority of the day having potshots taken at him, rather than at the target of the Dunk the Punk he was going to be spending the day on. "She's just trying to see how many students break the rules today."
"Bloody Witch Of Expel." Honda grouched under his breath as he took the last balloons from Yugi only to get distracted as Nosaka Miho, a friend of Anzu's and a classmates of theirs, wandered past.
"Honda!" Yugi complained as his grip on the balloons loosened and the wind caught them and pulled them away, "Anzu, can you...?"
She didn't get a chance to finish as the school bell rang and they had to scramble into position as the festival kicked off.
Yugi didn't really get a chance to take a breather after that until long after her painkillers had worn off and though she tried not to complain, the moment Anzu heard her squeak when someone brushed past her she sent her off to get something to eat and take some more. Yugi left the booth more than willingly, though she was careful about how she made her way through the crowds that currently were flooding the school grounds, to find something to eat that wasn't the okonomiyaki that Inogashira's class were making.
Finally settling down somewhere quiet with a bowl of ramen and a drink, Yugi considered the painkillers in her hand carefully. Though she hated being drowsy a lot of the time, she needed the pain relief and she'd come to realise that they had another effect on her, one that was both worrying and amusing at the same time.
Oneesan had told Jou that she and Yugi couldn't be awake at the same time, but when the painkillers kicked in, it was like they both were. It was the only time that she could really tell that she shared her body with someone else, as the blackouts really didn't count since she wasn't aware in any way, shape or form during them.
Though she and the spirit of the Puzzle couldn't talk to each other verbally, they had exchanged notes during one such period of drowsiness without Yugi having a blackout. The teenager was looking forward to another such conversation, even if it was a little convoluted since Oneesan's handwriting was her handwriting and it was, unfortunately, not brilliant.
Yugi ate as quickly as she dared considering it was rather painful to move and was about to take her pain meds when the wrist of the hand holding the drugs was seized tightly by a manicured hand and pulled away from her mouth. Yugi let out a pained squeak as the grip aggravated her wrist, which had yet to fully recover from the kidnapping and dropped the painkillers into a second hand that appeared out of nowhere.
"Doing drugs on school grounds, Mutou-Kun?" Yugi cringed for a whole different reason as she realised who was speaking, turning to look at Chono-Sensei as the teacher continued, "You'll be expelled for this."
"They're painkillers, Chono-Sensei." Yugi spoke quickly, "The hospital prescribed them to me. I have the box in my bag, I can show you..."
"Empty your bag then." Chono-Sensei looked horrendously smug, as if she didn't believe what Yugi was telling her.
Yugi privately wondered if the teacher thought she had a drug store in her backpack or something but kept her thoughts to herself as she emptied the contents of her backpack onto the grass.
The teacher seemed surprised as she shifted through the surprisingly small amount of things that had come out of the backpack, nudging Yugi's purse, deck box, rubix cube, pens and notebook before picking up the box of painkillers and examining it carefully. From the look she was giving it, Yugi wasn't sure whether Chono-Sensei was checking it for flaws or willing it to set on fire, but when she was handed the box back a few seconds later and the painkillers she'd been about to take moments after that she let out a sigh of relief.
"You should be more careful about where you take your painkillers, Mutou-Kun." Chono-Sensei informed the girl, who was just glad that she'd thought to bring the box rather than just the correct amount of pills she was supposed to take during the course of the day and that Oneesan hadn't woken up to protect her when Chono-Sensei had first grabbed her. She didn't fancy trying to explain why the woman, who was lusted after by most of the male staff members, had suddenly gone insane. "I won't be the only one who makes that mistake."
"I'll be careful from now on." Yugi nodded her understanding and making a mental note to avoid taking them where she could be spotted by the harshest of the teachers.
"Be sure you are." Chono-Sensei snorted at her and stalked off, looking slightly put out.
Yugi let out a soft, relieved sigh and took her painkillers before slowly drinking her beverage and opening her notebook to a fresh page. If anything, she supposed, she should have been glad that the Wicked Witch of Expel hadn't gone through the spiral bound pages, or she'd probably have tried to get her expelled for being schizophrenic or having multiple personality disorder.
She scribbled down a quick hello while she waited for the drowsiness to kick in and listened to the sounds of the festival. It sounded like everyone was having fun. She was just glad to get away for a little while. She could handle customers. She'd worked in the shop after all, but she kept getting knocked about and in her current condition that wasn't a good idea.
Still the carnival games were a hit, Jou had only been hit by a couple of beanbags and he'd only been dunked twice, once by Honda, and they were swiftly running out of prizes for the shooting gallery. There was no doubt in her mind that they'd take the prize for earning the most money. So all in all it was going well. She was just in a lot more pain than she'd thought she would be and that was sucking some of the enjoyment out of it.
As the painkillers kicked in, she slowly unwound, breathing easier as it hurt less to move and mentally jumped as she realised that while she was still able to see and hear her surroundings, it wasn't actually her in control of her body.
And then it was. She mentally shook herself, still unable to get used to the sensation of being a passenger in her own body and then glanced at the page, wondering what Oneesan had written.
'Hi. Having fun?'
Yugi smiled at that. She'd explained to Oneesan about the festival last night before she'd taken the Puzzle off in order to go to bed. The Ancient Egyptian spirit had appeared interested, or at least Yugi had thought she was interested from the phrases she had used and Yugi was horribly tempted to let Oneesan take control for a little bit and let her enjoy herself without having to Shadow Game someone for a change.
"Yes." Yugi wrote back, "The carnival games are a huge hit and the festival is great fun. There's so much food to try and so many games to play. It's your turn now though."
There was no reply for a minute and Yugi wondered if she'd managed to confuse Oneesan. After all she'd never offered control away for longer than it took to write a message before. She could understand if the spirit was wondering what had brought this on considering that she'd never been in control for any length of time unless she'd been punishing someone who had harmed Yugi or her friends.
'What do you mean?'
Yugi laughed briefly before wincing, her amusement only growing when she slipped out of control halfway through the wince and her body turned to look around before settling down again. As she was pushed back into control she reached for the pen again only to have to slam the book shut when she realised she wasn't the only one around.
"Mutou-Kun?" One of the girls asked, "Can I ask you something?"
Yugi tried to hide the irritation at being interrupted mid conversation and nodded, moving the notebook as the girl sat next to her as her friend hovered.
"You're friends with Honda-Kun, right?" Yugi nodded at the question, confused as to what that had to do with anything, "I uhh..."
"What's wrong?" Yugi asked, worried.
"N...Nothing. Maybe this is a bad idea." The girl looked nervous as she went to stand up only for her friend to put her hand on her shoulder.
"Mutou-Kun's got a boyfriend." Her friend pointed out, confusing Yugi, "And she's friends with Honda-Kun, she knows this stuff."
"But I don't have a..."
"Mutou-Kun," The girl who was sat next to her cut her off as Yugi tried to protest the existence of a boyfriend, "Is Honda-Kun single?"
"Yes..." Yugi nodded, still confused.
"Oh good!" The girl looked relieved, "I was worried he was with Mazaki-Kun."
"Honda and Anzu?" Yugi asked, trying very hard not to laugh, "You thought they were..."
The other girl swatted at her, having noticed her amusement, "You're not helping."
"Sorry, sorry." Yugi apologised, "What was it you wanted?"
"I'minterestedinHonda." The girl spoke at around three times the speed of a normal person.
Yugi blinked for a moment, in which time she slowed down the speech and forced it to make sense in her head. When she had she wondered how on Earth they had decided that she was the best person to go to about this. "Have you tried talking to him?"
The two girls looked horrified. "But what if he says no?"
"You can't know until you try." Yugi pointed out, trying to think. "I mean if you really need something else, my Grandpa's shop might have something but..."
"How did you get Jonouchi-Kun?"
"How did I what?" Yugi yelped before feeling herself shift out of control and mentally froze, worried what Oneesan was going to do.
"Hook Jonouchi-Kun?"
"I have done nothing of the sort." Oneesan growled, "There is nothing between me and Jou. Now if you don't mind I have to get back to my booth."
The two girls left after making a note of where the Game Shop was and Oneesan slipped out of control, allowing Yugi to explain to the spirit of the Puzzle that she was letting her take control so she could enjoy herself for a change.
A few seconds later an amused, yet slightly confused Oneesan slipped back into control and Yugi was left in the backseat as Oneesan packed up Yugi's things and finished the drink before slipping into the crowds that were milling around.
Not quite sure what her other self had had in mind when she'd stepped aside, Oneesan took her time heading back to the carnival game booth, taking the opportunity to taste several of the treats on offer and examine the various things on sale on each of the stalls before heading back.
"Oh good, we were about to..." Anzu trailed off when Oneesan passed her some yen and picked up some beanbags. "Y...Yugi?"
"Ha." Jou grinned, "Bring it on then, Yu..." He trailed off, his grin fading and his face paling as he realised who was actually in control.
Oneesan tossed one of the beanbags up in the air and smirked at him. "Sure, Jou..." She tossed the first one and Jou let out a short laugh that turned sharply into a yelp as the second beanbag hit its target and he dropped into the dunk tank and got soaked for the third time that day. He spluttered as he surfaced, coughing up the water he'd swallowed.
"Now," She said as she passed Jou a towel, "We're even."
"Sure but..." He glanced around and pulled Oneesan away from the crowds. Luckily it wasn't hard. As Oneesan had milled around the crowds had thinned out as all but the last stragglers left and all Jou had to do was drag her behind the booth. "Okay. Where's the body?"
Oneesan just sniggered and waved his concern off, "Don't worry. I didn't Challenge anyone. Imoto-Chan had a shock and I thought I'd bring her back here safely so she didn't have to risk traversing the crowds.
Jou gave her a slightly disbelieving look for a moment then paused, "Imoto-Chan?" He asked with an amused look.
"I'm not the only one who needed a nickname." Oneesan chuckled, "I know Her name's Yugi, but considering that she's offered me the use of her name, it felt weird using it to refer to Her. Besides, If I'm the big sister, that makes her my little sister."
Jou blinked at her, confused. "You've spoken to Yuge?"
"Technically not."
"Huh? Explain."
Oneesan explained as best as she could, but she could feel the drowsy stage wearing off and though she was reluctant to return to sleep she knew that it wasn't fair to steal her host's life especially considering that Imoto-Chan was willing to share it.
"Excuse me." Oneesan held up her hand, forestalling any further questions as she felt Imoto-Chan's mind slip into sleep, pushing the girl into control and retreating into the Puzzle.
"You okay, Yuge?" Jou worried at his friend, who blinked at him for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts before nodding.
"I'm..." Yugi trailed off when she saw Chono-Sensei turn the corner. Wondering if the woman had a homing beacon on her or something, she tugged on her friend's jacket sleeve and pulled him towards the front of the booth where their classmates were starting to take down the signs.
In a classic example of the fact that it always takes longer to create than destroy, the booth was completely demolished within a couple of hours and the gang was on its way home long before Yugi's second batch of tablets wore off. Halfway home the group split up, Anzu heading for her dance lesson, Honda going to babysit his cousin and Jou heading to his own job, leaving Yugi to walk home alone for the first time in months.
She didn't get very far, before she'd gone around one more corner on her route the girls from earlier had caught up to her.
"Mutou-Chan!" One of them, the one who wasn't crushing on Honda, grinned at her, "I'm glad we caught you."
"We forgot where your Grandpa's shop is." The other explained a lot less enthusiastically.
"I'm sorry." Yugi apologised, looking sheepish, "But I don't know your names..."
"Oh. Of course, sorry Mutou-Chan, everyone knows you but you're so oblivious that..." The excitable girl trailed off, looking embarrassed, "I'm Hinata Chiyo and this is my friend, Takasu Hamako."
"It's nice to meet you, Hinata-San, Takasu-San." Yugi bowed to both, trying to ignore the comment about being oblivious to her classmates. It wasn't like she could deny it. "I'm on my way home, so if you want to follow me..."
"That was the plan." Hinata grinned at her, "Lead the way, Mutou-Chan."
Yugi led the two girls back to the Game Shop where her grandfather was more than willing to embarrass Yugi with stories of how he'd used a blank jigsaw puzzle like the one he sold to the girl who had a crush on Honda. He also hinted about what to write and draw on the puzzle.
Takasu did try and get Yugi to write on the Puzzle for her, but between Yugi's lack of anything resembling a relationship and the fact that Hinata had backed Yugi up when she'd finally realised that Jonouchi really wasn't Yugi's boyfriend in insisting that the words really had to come from Takasu if she wanted this to work.
The two girls darted out the door and off home to get started while Yugi helped her grandfather in the shop, planning to mention the girls to Jou. After all he would have a better idea of what Honda liked and if he, as she was worried about, had a crush on Anzu's friend Miho.
The whole situation vanished from her mind though when Jou returned, rather late and with a spectacular black eye. He wouldn't tell her where it came from and when Oneesan, who had been awake because of the painkillers Yugi had taken in preparation of going to bed, had informed him that she was more than happy to Challenge his assailant if he hadn't dealt with it, he'd told her it was a family thing and to drop it and leave it alone.
Though Yugi couldn't really sense anything from the spirit while Oneesan was in control, she could tell that the Ancient Egyptian ghost wasn't best pleased with that idea by the fact she retook control of her body to lingering feelings of frustration and concern.
She tried to placate the spirit when they exchanged a few words before Yugi took the Puzzle off for the night, but from the tone of her words, Oneesan was still a little cross when Yugi finally gave up and went to sleep.
By Monday the combination of the busy Sunday shift, the concern for her friend and the fact she was running so late that she had to down her painkillers on the bus on the way to school, had driven the jigsaw so far out of her mind that she was just as confused as Honda when she followed the brunette into class and he pulled a present out of his desk.
She started drifting off the moment she sat down, not a good start to the day, but Oneesan saved her by taking over and starting to unpack her school stuff as Chono-Sensei entered the room for the first class of the day.
Oneesan watched the teacher as moved across the room, a sly smile on her face, as Honda scrambled to put the present in his bag before the teacher saw. He was too slow. Chono-Sensei's eyes latched onto the present and, in the sweetest tone she could possibly manage, she uttered the dreaded words, "Surprise Inspection."
Everyone emptied their desks and bags onto the table, Oneesan included, wondering if she should switch with Imoto-Chan, as the teacher examined each and every desk.
"I've heard rumour that someone in this class has been taking drugs." Chono-Sensei said as she examined one pile of junk very carefully, considering the sweets on Miho's table carefully before moving on to Yugi's desk. Oneesan dropped the illusion that the Puzzle cast on Yugi in order to make her look taller and make her eyes red whenever Oneesan was in control, before catching the teacher's eyes.
Chono-Sensei looked amused at her defiance as the examined the pill box again, but Oneesan could see the way Jonouchi tensed up, having seen the illusion go up in the first place and worried that she might Challenge the teacher. She wasn't foolish though. She knew how much Yugi needed her schooling and how much her Grandfather valued Yugi's continued intellectual growth.
As such she was leaving Chono-Sensei alone, even though she would have been justified in taking the woman to task for the pain she had caused Imoto-Chan.
The teacher didn't say a word to her, not this time, just let out a soft, disappointed sigh and moved on to the desk behind Yugi's, picking up the present that Honda had been left.
"What's this?" Chono-Sensei asked, her tone sickly sweet.
"I don't know." Honda answered truthfully, "It was here when I got here."
True or not it was the wrong answer as Chono-Sensei started heading towards the front of the class discarding shredded wrapping paper as she did so. Oneesan glowered after her, but held back at a subtle shake of the head from Jou, who knew her too well.
"Not yet." The teen mouthed at her, still trying to work out why it was Oneesan in control, how Oneesan was almost pulling off the Yugi act and how he knew instinctively what she wanted to do.
"Oh how cute." Chono-Sensei held the puzzle pieces and the blank base up for all to see, horrendously embarrassing the two girls who had come to the shop, "Of course games are banned in school. Aren't they Mutou-Chan?"
Oneesan didn't respond. She didn't feel like being goaded into an argument when she had too many witnesses to really get into a decent 'discussion with the woman' and Jou's disapproval didn't help matters.
"Oh," The woman continued as she examined a piece carefully, "It has writing on. I wonder what the message could say..." The two girls who had come to the shop had gone pale now as Chono-Sensei started assembling the gift.
"Now?" Oneesan's look demanded of Jou as the woman practically cackled.
"Oh, why it's a love letter, Honda-Kun." Chono-Sensei informed the boy with a wicked smile, not failing to miss the glance that the boy spared in the direction of Nosaka Miho, "Of course I'm afraid your secret admirer is going to have to be suspended and her parents told. After all you're all much too young to be engaging in relationships."
Oneesan tried to ignore the looks she got from more than just Chono-Sensei. Shockingly it appeared that even the most sensible members of the class had been taken in by the rumours that Yugi and Jou were dating, leaving the spirit of the Puzzle wondering if it was possible for a girl to be close friends with a guy without someone thinking that they were dating at best and sleeping together at worst.
Jou hesitated, wondering what Oneesan had planned and if she planned on launching her Shadow Game here and now.
"This poetry is awful." Chono-Sensei chuckled, "Hair like chocolate? It's so cliché..."
The girl who had written it looked like she was going to sink into the ground.
"I wrote it." Hinata spoke up, protecting her friend from further embarrassment, "I wrote everything on that puzzle."
"No," Takasu wasn't having any of it, not wanting her friend to get into trouble on her account, "I gave Honda the puzzle. It's my gift."
"One of you has to be lying." Chono-Sensei pointed out, "You can't both have given Honda-Kun the gift."
"Neither of us are lying." Hinata informed the teacher.
Honda looked shocked by this, as neither girl had registered on his radar until this moment, focused as he was on Miho, but Jou nodded as Chono-Sensei grew enraged by the denials of the pair of girls. Certain that one of them was lying, she mentally made the decision that in the lack of evidence to expel the slacker, Jonouchi, and his little bint, the cross dresser who had made her look so foolish a few months back, she was going to get one of the girls expelled for lying to a teacher. Hell if she twisted it right, she could probably take Honda down with them too.
"Finally." Oneesan murmured, setting the spell up, using the jigsaw as the catalyst. Should she complete it she would trigger the Penalty. "I give you this one chance," She recited in her head, having no faith in Chono-Sensei stopping without completing the puzzle and embarrassing the trio involved or worse and not wanting to land Yugi in trouble, "Continue your path and face a Penalty."
The teacher continued her taunts as she slipped all bar the last piece into place, taking great delight in drawing out the agony.
"I have it." Chono-Sensei said with a smirk,as she clicked the piece into place, "The name of the one being suspended is..."
"Penalty Game," Oneesan responded before the teacher could reveal the name, her voice carrying just enough for Jou and Honda to hear her, but not enough for the teacher to catch her words. "Fragmentation."
To Jou and Honda's shock the mask of makeup on Chono-Sensei's face started cracking, pieces of it falling away. The teacher's face turned panicked and her hands rose to her face as Oneesan continued.
"You cannot hide your true nature. No matter how much makeup you pile on, all will see the truth. No longer will you be able to hide behind an illusion of beauty. Every mask you apply will shatter and, until you learn to treat others with the same respect you require yourself, every man will see you exactly for who you are the moment they meet you."
Without her makeup, Chono-Sensei looked like a harpy. A shrewd, cruel looking harpy who couldn't understand what was happening to her.
"You all saw nothing. Class dismissed!" Chono-Sensei dashed out the room, her makeup still crumbling away, heading for the bathroom to fix herself up.
Takasu darted up to the front and grabbed the jigsaw before glancing at Honda and darting out of the room, the class exploding in noise as she left.
Honda took the opportunity to reach over, grab Oneesan's shoulder and wheel her around to face him, only to find himself face to face with a tired looking Yugi. "The hell was that?" He demanded, confused and using the noise of the class to cover his words.
"We'll tell you later." Jonouchi promised, "Go chase your girlfriend."
"She's not my..." Honda hesitated.
"She wants to be." Oneesan pointed out. Honda glowered at the spirit of the Puzzle momentarily, then darted out the door after Takasu.
"Ooooh, you're in trouble." Jou grinned at her as Oneesan retook Yugi's seat and started putting things away.
"Jou?" She asked calmly.
"Yeah, Yuge?" He asked, still grinning.
"Please be silent." Oneesan sighed, concerned she had given herself away from the odd looks she and Jou were getting, only for Jou to chuckle at her.
"I believe the phrase you want is 'shut up'."