[fic] Broken Reflection - Yugioh, YamixYugi, horror/angst, PG-13, AU
Title: Broken Reflection
Author: Chey (duelist_gurl163)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror/angst
Pairing: YamixYugi
Archive: Here
Warnings: AU, insanity, character death, semi-confusing stream-of-consciousness in third person…
Spoilers: None.
Summary: He lost Yugi six months before. Now, in madness, he has finally found escape from the pain.
Disclaimer: Despite my attempts to convince Takahashi that I should own it, he continues to hold the copyright.
Notes: This is a re-write of an old fic with the same premise under the same title. I like this new version much more.
This is meant to be somewhat confusing. For those who like to send me concrit (and I love you guys!) please disregard grammar in this one, as the grammar and word choices are meant to be strange and/or awkward, especially near the end.
---
“Hey, Yami, slow down!”
Laughing, he jogged another few steps ahead as they crossed the street. “Why? It’s cold out here!”
“You wimp!” Yugi was laughing too. Yami turned around, smiling at him. For an instant, life seemed perfect. For that one moment…
The moment before it all shattered.
Yami was staring back at him from the smooth mirror surface.
He braced his hands against the sink, locking eyes with the man. How he had avoided him, evaded him for six months, but it had happened all the same. He had finally caught up.
The figure in the mirror stared back at him, staring with eyes that were not completely dead, for guilt and blame both lived there.
He thought he had escaped. He thought he was free.
“Don’t look at me that way…!” he snarled, and Yami snarled back, before his fist met the cool glass and the face vanished.
The boy, a student who he had passed in the hallway before, entered the bathroom only to stop short, turn, and dash off.
He came back, and he brought others, shouts, handcuffs, police sirens…
The sirens were the only flaw in that otherwise perfect morning.
He saw the headlights before Yugi did, and knew instinctively that something was wrong. They were approaching too quickly, paying no attention to the red light. He tried to reach out toward Yugi.
“Yugi, look out…!”
But Time, which had allowed Yami’s shout to reach the world, was not so generous as to allow Yugi the chance he needed.
Screeching tires, a force which threw him to the ground, a horrible crashing, thudding sound mixed with a sharp cry of pain that pierced the air…the sound of broken glass raining down upon the pavement…
Then it was over.
The hated face, he had to get rid of it, he had to make it never come back. If he could just destroy him, could just destroy that cursed man-
The sounds of the broken mirror hitting the sink and floor of the bathroom were just like the sounds of the windshield from that night, as broken glass covered the road, covered Yugi…
“Yugi!”
As if screaming for him would bring him back. It hadn’t worked that night. It wouldn’t work now.
The doctors were ever so nice. Stitching up his hands, asking him questions; the silly fools, didn’t they realize there was nobody there to answer?
The sirens were still wailing.
Those damned sirens…
Pain split through his side, but somehow he got to his knees and crawled to where Yugi lay.
“Yugi…Oh Yugi…”
“Yami…?” Yugi’s eyes were glazed and distant, almost confused. Blood was running down his face, running from his nose and mouth, and from a cut hidden someplace above his hairline. Yami tried to wipe the blood away, but it kept coming.
Blood, so much blood…
“Yugi? Can you hear me?”
“It hurts.” He sounded quietly surprised.
“You’re going to be okay, someone must have heard the crash and will call, we’ll get help soon…”
“N-no…no time,” he said. His expression softened suddenly.
“What?”
“Need to…tell you.” Yugi was barely able to speak now, but he kept trying, even as with every word he spoke more blood bubbled up in his throat, and his breath was rattling, choking inside him. “Love you…”
“Yugi, no, don’t say things like this now.” Salty tears ran down Yami’s face. “Don’t…it’ll be okay, here, you shouldn’t be moved, I’ll go get help-”
“No…stay, hold me.” Yugi was unable to move his arms, his spine had been hit, but as Yami gently lifted him, he laid his head over Yami’s heart, seeking the only closeness he could, and he whispered against him. “Just want to tell…you good-bye.”
“No, it’s not good-bye, it’s not, you’re going to be okay,” Yami cried, cradling Yugi in his arms, clinging to him now, forgetting Yugi’s injuries, forgetting his injuries. “Please don’t say you’re going to die!”
“No…just glad…you’re here…” Yugi was smiling somehow, smiling through the pain. His eyes closed, his lips barely moving. “I love you.”
“Yugi, no, please don’t…” Yami begged, shaking him now.
Yugi had gone limp. His chest was no longer moving, his labored breathing gone silent.
“Y-Yugi…no…” He clutched him close, the words bursting out in a scream,. “No…don’t die! Yugi!”
One mirror was gone, but others remained. Still haunting him. Torturing him. Everywhere he looked he saw ghosts and nightmares; the boy he lost, and the man he hated.
He slammed his fist into the next one, and the next one, fingers tearing at the shards remaining on the wall.
Tears blinding him, sobs choking in his throat…
Even with the mirrors all destroyed, the memory wasn’t gone. The lights in the bathroom reflected on the broken glass on the floor, causing bright flashes.
Flashing the same way the police lights flashed on the broken window glass that night.
Blood from his lacerated fingers dripped down his hands.
Yugi’s blood had dripped down his hands that night.
That night was happening again.
He would have asked them to make the sirens stop, please, but a lifeless body was not supposed to speak.
Other people came. Some scared, some shouting at him, one woman shaking him and sobbing.
Why are you so sad, he wanted to ask. Do you not see the beautiful thing I have done? Yami is dead.
And I am free.
“Yugi…Y- Yugi…don’t leave me…” He stroked Yugi’s crimson-streaked face, clinging to him, knowing it was too late, knowing that no amount of begging or pleading would help. Yugi was gone from him, gone forever.
Lights split the night. Police cars roared to a stop, officers pouring onto the scene.
Two ambulances pulled up, more shrieking sirens.
Someone pulled at Yami, and he looked up at them, pleading with his eyes-
Just kill me, please kill me.
"Come on, let him go."
No, kill me, goddamn it, don't let me survive this...!
Someone else pried at his fingers, loosening his grasp, until they pulled Yugi from his arms.
"No!" he cried out.
“Hold still, there’s nothing you can do-”
“No! Let me go, let me be with him! He needs me!”
“You can’t do anything for him, please calm down, you’re injured…”
“I don’t care, I want to be with him, let me go with him!”
Sobbing, he was too weak to fight them off, even as he ached to go to Yugi's side and lie down beside him and never, never leave.
“He’s gone, I’m sorry…”
“Stop it, just let me go! I want to go with Yugi!"
But he was overpowered and forced into the ambulance, drugged and restrained, tied down to the cot as outside the flashing lights still glinted on the broken glass, and he saw the paramedics shaking a sheet over Yugi’s body.
The doors closed and cut off his view.
When the police came to him this time, finding him on his knees amongst the broken mirrors, they didn’t need to force him. He didn’t fight the handcuffs, stood up when they tugged at his arm and followed them. He didn’t argue, he didn’t yell.
Why should he? As he knelt there amongst the shards, it had occurred to him that there was nothing left to fight, no reason left to bother.
The pain would never lessen. The nightmares would never stop.
They still existed inside Yami. There was a mirror inside him that he would never be able to break or avoid. A reflection of that night, a reflection of those memories, replaying over and over, reminding him of what he lost.
Yami couldn’t destroy it.
Because his spirit, the only thing that could reach inside himself to break that internal reflection, was taken that night when Yugi was. Broken like the glass shattered across the road, glinting in the blood smear under Yugi’s body.
Mad laughter giggled up in his throat as the taste of tears whet his tongue.
He had done what Yami had been unable to do.
He had shattered, destroyed the man called Yami, and the mirror inside him was gone, and his ruined spirit was where it belonged, away from this Earth, at Yugi’s side.
The shards, the sinks, the police, the students who had gathered curiously in the halls, they were all witness to his perfect victory.
On this brand new wonderful day.
- - -
They brought him to a tiny room.
The sirens were gone.
All was at peace.
He smiled.
X - X - X
(Moar) Notes: I took out the whole part with Jou and Mai because a) it was mostly just reiterating what had already happened, like an info dump, and b) I decided it would be more poignant if it focused entirely on Yami. Also I took out the part of Yami trying to kill the driver since it was really only relevant for Jou and Mai to talk about.
This is totally a spur-of-the-moment post. xD Surprise angst!
Author: Chey (duelist_gurl163)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror/angst
Pairing: YamixYugi
Archive: Here
Warnings: AU, insanity, character death, semi-confusing stream-of-consciousness in third person…
Spoilers: None.
Summary: He lost Yugi six months before. Now, in madness, he has finally found escape from the pain.
Disclaimer: Despite my attempts to convince Takahashi that I should own it, he continues to hold the copyright.
Notes: This is a re-write of an old fic with the same premise under the same title. I like this new version much more.
This is meant to be somewhat confusing. For those who like to send me concrit (and I love you guys!) please disregard grammar in this one, as the grammar and word choices are meant to be strange and/or awkward, especially near the end.
---
“Hey, Yami, slow down!”
Laughing, he jogged another few steps ahead as they crossed the street. “Why? It’s cold out here!”
“You wimp!” Yugi was laughing too. Yami turned around, smiling at him. For an instant, life seemed perfect. For that one moment…
The moment before it all shattered.
Yami was staring back at him from the smooth mirror surface.
He braced his hands against the sink, locking eyes with the man. How he had avoided him, evaded him for six months, but it had happened all the same. He had finally caught up.
The figure in the mirror stared back at him, staring with eyes that were not completely dead, for guilt and blame both lived there.
He thought he had escaped. He thought he was free.
“Don’t look at me that way…!” he snarled, and Yami snarled back, before his fist met the cool glass and the face vanished.
The boy, a student who he had passed in the hallway before, entered the bathroom only to stop short, turn, and dash off.
He came back, and he brought others, shouts, handcuffs, police sirens…
The sirens were the only flaw in that otherwise perfect morning.
He saw the headlights before Yugi did, and knew instinctively that something was wrong. They were approaching too quickly, paying no attention to the red light. He tried to reach out toward Yugi.
“Yugi, look out…!”
But Time, which had allowed Yami’s shout to reach the world, was not so generous as to allow Yugi the chance he needed.
Screeching tires, a force which threw him to the ground, a horrible crashing, thudding sound mixed with a sharp cry of pain that pierced the air…the sound of broken glass raining down upon the pavement…
Then it was over.
The hated face, he had to get rid of it, he had to make it never come back. If he could just destroy him, could just destroy that cursed man-
The sounds of the broken mirror hitting the sink and floor of the bathroom were just like the sounds of the windshield from that night, as broken glass covered the road, covered Yugi…
“Yugi!”
As if screaming for him would bring him back. It hadn’t worked that night. It wouldn’t work now.
The doctors were ever so nice. Stitching up his hands, asking him questions; the silly fools, didn’t they realize there was nobody there to answer?
The sirens were still wailing.
Those damned sirens…
Pain split through his side, but somehow he got to his knees and crawled to where Yugi lay.
“Yugi…Oh Yugi…”
“Yami…?” Yugi’s eyes were glazed and distant, almost confused. Blood was running down his face, running from his nose and mouth, and from a cut hidden someplace above his hairline. Yami tried to wipe the blood away, but it kept coming.
Blood, so much blood…
“Yugi? Can you hear me?”
“It hurts.” He sounded quietly surprised.
“You’re going to be okay, someone must have heard the crash and will call, we’ll get help soon…”
“N-no…no time,” he said. His expression softened suddenly.
“What?”
“Need to…tell you.” Yugi was barely able to speak now, but he kept trying, even as with every word he spoke more blood bubbled up in his throat, and his breath was rattling, choking inside him. “Love you…”
“Yugi, no, don’t say things like this now.” Salty tears ran down Yami’s face. “Don’t…it’ll be okay, here, you shouldn’t be moved, I’ll go get help-”
“No…stay, hold me.” Yugi was unable to move his arms, his spine had been hit, but as Yami gently lifted him, he laid his head over Yami’s heart, seeking the only closeness he could, and he whispered against him. “Just want to tell…you good-bye.”
“No, it’s not good-bye, it’s not, you’re going to be okay,” Yami cried, cradling Yugi in his arms, clinging to him now, forgetting Yugi’s injuries, forgetting his injuries. “Please don’t say you’re going to die!”
“No…just glad…you’re here…” Yugi was smiling somehow, smiling through the pain. His eyes closed, his lips barely moving. “I love you.”
“Yugi, no, please don’t…” Yami begged, shaking him now.
Yugi had gone limp. His chest was no longer moving, his labored breathing gone silent.
“Y-Yugi…no…” He clutched him close, the words bursting out in a scream,. “No…don’t die! Yugi!”
One mirror was gone, but others remained. Still haunting him. Torturing him. Everywhere he looked he saw ghosts and nightmares; the boy he lost, and the man he hated.
He slammed his fist into the next one, and the next one, fingers tearing at the shards remaining on the wall.
Tears blinding him, sobs choking in his throat…
Even with the mirrors all destroyed, the memory wasn’t gone. The lights in the bathroom reflected on the broken glass on the floor, causing bright flashes.
Flashing the same way the police lights flashed on the broken window glass that night.
Blood from his lacerated fingers dripped down his hands.
Yugi’s blood had dripped down his hands that night.
That night was happening again.
He would have asked them to make the sirens stop, please, but a lifeless body was not supposed to speak.
Other people came. Some scared, some shouting at him, one woman shaking him and sobbing.
Why are you so sad, he wanted to ask. Do you not see the beautiful thing I have done? Yami is dead.
And I am free.
“Yugi…Y- Yugi…don’t leave me…” He stroked Yugi’s crimson-streaked face, clinging to him, knowing it was too late, knowing that no amount of begging or pleading would help. Yugi was gone from him, gone forever.
Lights split the night. Police cars roared to a stop, officers pouring onto the scene.
Two ambulances pulled up, more shrieking sirens.
Someone pulled at Yami, and he looked up at them, pleading with his eyes-
Just kill me, please kill me.
"Come on, let him go."
No, kill me, goddamn it, don't let me survive this...!
Someone else pried at his fingers, loosening his grasp, until they pulled Yugi from his arms.
"No!" he cried out.
“Hold still, there’s nothing you can do-”
“No! Let me go, let me be with him! He needs me!”
“You can’t do anything for him, please calm down, you’re injured…”
“I don’t care, I want to be with him, let me go with him!”
Sobbing, he was too weak to fight them off, even as he ached to go to Yugi's side and lie down beside him and never, never leave.
“He’s gone, I’m sorry…”
“Stop it, just let me go! I want to go with Yugi!"
But he was overpowered and forced into the ambulance, drugged and restrained, tied down to the cot as outside the flashing lights still glinted on the broken glass, and he saw the paramedics shaking a sheet over Yugi’s body.
The doors closed and cut off his view.
When the police came to him this time, finding him on his knees amongst the broken mirrors, they didn’t need to force him. He didn’t fight the handcuffs, stood up when they tugged at his arm and followed them. He didn’t argue, he didn’t yell.
Why should he? As he knelt there amongst the shards, it had occurred to him that there was nothing left to fight, no reason left to bother.
The pain would never lessen. The nightmares would never stop.
They still existed inside Yami. There was a mirror inside him that he would never be able to break or avoid. A reflection of that night, a reflection of those memories, replaying over and over, reminding him of what he lost.
Yami couldn’t destroy it.
Because his spirit, the only thing that could reach inside himself to break that internal reflection, was taken that night when Yugi was. Broken like the glass shattered across the road, glinting in the blood smear under Yugi’s body.
Mad laughter giggled up in his throat as the taste of tears whet his tongue.
He had done what Yami had been unable to do.
He had shattered, destroyed the man called Yami, and the mirror inside him was gone, and his ruined spirit was where it belonged, away from this Earth, at Yugi’s side.
The shards, the sinks, the police, the students who had gathered curiously in the halls, they were all witness to his perfect victory.
On this brand new wonderful day.
- - -
They brought him to a tiny room.
The sirens were gone.
All was at peace.
He smiled.
X - X - X
(Moar) Notes: I took out the whole part with Jou and Mai because a) it was mostly just reiterating what had already happened, like an info dump, and b) I decided it would be more poignant if it focused entirely on Yami. Also I took out the part of Yami trying to kill the driver since it was really only relevant for Jou and Mai to talk about.
This is totally a spur-of-the-moment post. xD Surprise angst!