Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 280 A Sleepless Night

The struggle is real. A lot of my nights were sleepless over the past month, and not just because I had to coordinate my schedule to get that vaccine, or there have been a lot of challenging changes at work to navigate through all at once. I have occasional pinched nerve in my neck, and it makes sleeping a very complicated process, and therefore makes HEALING nearly impossible. I had a rather long bout of this issue during April, so there were a lot of nights when I was laying there trying not to tweak my neck anymore while also trying to just relax. It was a largely fruitless exercise, but at least I got a lot of reading done. I'm almost through this whole anthology of H.P. Lovecraft's most notable stories, so that's something.

... Gracious was that guy wordy. And racist. 

Yuugi's spending HIS insomnia hours staring at the box his Millennium Puzzle came in, which is just as useful a use of time, honestly.

He's put the god cards Yami fought so hard for in Battle City in there, because apparently he's not concerned about keeping them in a reasonably secure place. It's not like they're one-of-a-kind power cards that people would likely do anything to get their mitts on or anything. Yuugi is sure they're a piece of the puzzle in the search for Yami's memories, demonstrating just how much he and his associative humor/thinking deserve to be on this blog. Well done, my precious boy.

Yuugi picks up the box, with the assertion that he and his friends are going to the museum tomorrow, to see the stone slab from an Egyptian temple on display there, apparently. He either couldn't or wouldn't peek in on Yami's outing with Anzu, because he hasn't seen the tablet, and only knows that there's an image of the pharaoh carved in that that looks like Yami. Thinking on the god cards and that mysterious tablet, he vows to his other self that he'll find his memories soon, wearing his classic poop-face.

Ah, all we need now is Yami to put on his shit-eating murder-grin, and we're back in business!

Sugoroku peeks around the cracked door to Yuugi's room, calling his name in question, catching Yuugi by surprise a little. His grandfather laughs a little and steps into the room, asking if he's still up, considering it's 1:00 am. Yuugi says he couldn't get to sleep, so Sugoroku cheekily asks if, since he's already up, he would show "them" to his old grandpa one more time. Sugoroku winks, claiming HE can't get to sleep without getting a glimpse. Exasperated, Yuugi complains that Sugoroku is asking again, since he's seen them 10 times by this point. Sugoroku asks Yuugi to just humor him, and Yuugi gives in. 

You may as well draw a giant target on yourself, old man. 

Yuugi refuses, AGAIN, by the sound of it, but not because of how obviously dangerous it would be for anyone involved. He claims Sugoroku just doesn't know how hard it was, the life or death duels his other self had to go through in Battle City to get those damn cards. Sugoroku hums in curiosity over Yuugi's wording, noticing he referred to the "other him". Yuugi balks and backtracks, waving his palms at Sugoroku while trying to claim he meant it BOTHERED him - Sugoroku apparently hasn't met Yami.

Huh.... I guess he hasn't. I had COMPLETELY overlooked that fact until this moment.

Sugoroku, looking serious all of a sudden, asks if Yuugi is talking about the pharaoh's soul. Yuugi shouts in utter disbelief, trailing the question of how Sugoroku KNEW. Sugoroku wears a sober frown, silent for a moment, as he contemplates how he had guessed the pharaoh's soul had taken up residence in his grandson, who had solved the Millennium Puzzle. He recalls seeing the specter of Yami (though he was never properly acquainted with him as YAMI) reaching to kindly pull him from the abyss beside the path in the tomb, and thinks there may well be another realm beyond the maze in the tomb where no one has ever set foot - the trials for the person who solves the Millennium Puzzle. 

He glares at the golden box sitting by Yuugi's elbow on the desk, and puts a hand on Yuugi's shoulder. Sugoroku says the only thing he knows is that whoever solves that puzzle inherits the pharaoh's will, and will be continuously tested. Yuugi stares at his grandfather in alarm.

Despite this ominous note, Yuugi suddenly smiles, nods, and assures Sugoroku he knows. Well, that's that then!

Just as suddenly as he had become grim before, Sugoroku grins and chuckles his signature chuckle, mussing up Yuugi's spiky hair, while Yuugi scrunches his face in displeasure. Sugoroku turns to trot from the room, declaring it's time for bed and wishing Yuugi a good night. Yuugi offers him the same parting phrase, though his expression has fallen somewhat. If the question mark above his head is any indication, he's wondering about Sugoroku's uncanny ability to swing wildly from one expressive extreme to the other. 

Outside the game shop, an flash of lightning illuminates the shoe and pantleg of a mysterious late-night visitor. 

We're not quite done watching Yuugi be restless, though, so back inside we go. KT immediately puts us in Yuugi's room again, where the lights are off now and he's laying in bed, but his head is propped up by his arms behind it, and he's staring at the ceiling wakefully. He's thinking about what his grandfather said, that "fate of the chosen one" line, wondering why Sugoroku said that. THEN he remembers asshole!Bakura saying something about how the duty of the one chosen by the Millennium Puzzle is to awaken the pharaoh's memories. Yuugi considers the term "memories", before he tries to dismiss the thoughts with the self-assurance that they'll all find out something at the museum the next day. But the dismissal doesn't work and he continues to feel so restless it almost hurts. The RELATABILITY almost hurts to me.

And we're not the only ones all too familiar with Brainwontshutthefuckupitis.

Yuugi's life is complicated. There's an Egyptian ghost haunting his whole life all the time, and that's NOT the reason why he can't sleep.

No, the reason is that he thinks they might get Yami's memories back tomorrow, or rather, after the museum opens up, since it's already tomorrow by this point. Yuugi gushes about how long Yami has wanted those memories back, even though that can't have been too terribly long at all. I remember when he was debating finding those memories or just keeping the status quo forever for fear that he might not like what he found. Regardless, Yuugi exclaims that he's too excited to sleep, and Yami smiles placidly at him. 

We get a good look at the puzzle hanging from around his neck, the spectral double of the one on Yuugi. Yami admits to his partner that he knows he's the pharaoh's soul sealed in that puzzle. He begins to muse aloud about how he met Yuugi when Yuugi became his partner in finding his memories, listing off the friends like Jonouchi, Anzu and Honda that he's met along the way too. Yuugi gives him an encouraging affirmation, so Yami goes on to get around to the point - that he's made NEW memories now, those ones of being with his friends. He assures Yuugi that no matter what happens to him, those memories will always be there.

Yuugi hangs his head, considering the words Yami is using. Kind of a red flag when your bud starts talking like something irreparable might happen to him, after all. He's still going, too, talking about how his memories of friends are an eternal treasure to him. Yuugi frowns at his lap, holding the Millennium Puzzle as he repeats these words in his head too, trying to work out what it means that what's ahead is eternal. 

He looks back up eventually to tell Yami this is just like when he put the Millennium Puzzle together; he declares it's Yami's turn to put the pieces of his memories together. That... was an abrupt return to a more "comfortable" topic. Yami's eyes are wide in alarm regarding Yuugi, as Yuugi promises that he'll be Yami's partner as long as is needed, grin right back in place. Yami smiles too in agreement. A more subdued gesture, but it seems genuine.

More lightning flashes outside and thunder rumbles as the mysterious figure we saw before shimmies on the roof, up to the side of Yuugi's window. Shards or broken glass fall down beside the golden box still sitting plain as day on the desk where Yuugi left it. Yuugi, who's FINALLY fallen asleep, fails to notice the window breaking or the shadow sitting outside it, and snoozes away. Lousy time for the circadian rhythm to kick in so well. The mysterious figure leans over the window, keeping a close eye on Yuugi's sleeping form as they lower their hand through the hole in the glass they've made. 

And a whole-ass GOLD box, too. You know you should have gotten a safe for BOTH the damn things.

The stranger jumps from the roof, and it's not a height to scoff at if I recall fairly. Yuugi growls as he yanks his jacket over his shoulders, silently grousing that Yami NEEDS those cards. Spectral Yami appears at his side and offers to handle this, but Yuugi refuses, claiming that it was HIS duty to protect those cards. Maybe if you were going to leave the god cards in a valuable box right out in the open under a window, you shouldn't take on heavy responsibilities like that, kiddo.

Yuugi skids to a stop at a cross-street, and spotting the shadowy thief at running in the opposite direction he initially faced. He makes a frustrated noise and takes off after the stranger again, yelling at him to stop. The thief looks over his shoulder and grits his teeth at Yuugi, pushing to speed ahead. Yuugi, with his shorter legs, eventually loses track of the stranger and has to pause, panting and looking around, wondering where he went. As if in answer, someone yells from an alleyway to his right, and though Yuugi is startled and disturbed by the sound, he runs toward it. 

Ahead of him, a figure stands over the stranger's crumpled form in clutching the puzzle box to his gut. The figure stoops to pull the box away from the thief while Yuugi stares in shock at the long pale hair and fanned out duster jacket.

Of all the people who could lecture you about keeping shit safe, it's BAKURA. BAKURA, Yuugi. 

 
Anyway, Yuugi is just alarmed as all hell by asshole!Bakura showing up. Asshole!Bakura scoffs and starts complaining that he can't leave Yuugi's careless ass alone for a single moment, tossing him the box and demanding he make sure all those important cards are there. Yuugi takes the lid off the box to glance inside and confirm that indeed, the cards are all safely in there. Somebody give asshole!Bakura a podium, because he's deep in the lecture now, reminding Yuugi that every duelist in the world knows he won the rarest cards Pegasus left behind in death. Doesn't mention his part in that death, but I suppose it doesn't come up, so...

Yuugi haltingly thanks asshole!Bakura for helping him to get the cards back, gratitude that asshole!Bakura seems to mock with a scoff. There's a reason I give him that epithet, after all. Yuugi points out that asshole!Bakura's wearing that THING, though, giving him something of a suspicious glare. Asshole!Bakura chuckles and holds up the Millennium Ring hanging around his neck, asking sardonically if this is what Yuugi is referring to. Grinning, he asserts that the Millennium Ring belongs to HIM, even though he's certain that regular Bakura's theft of it on the blimp must have caused some distress to Yuugi at the time. Yuugi just stares in response, speechless but with his brows drawn down. 

Asshole!Bakura tells him not to worry, because he knows Yuugi will eventually need all the Millennium Items and he's prepared to hand his over when that time comes - no sooner than that. But he does offer Yuugi something ELSE to tide him over in the meantime. He holds up the Millennium Eye up over his own, sticking his tongue out cheekily at the utterly flabbergasted Yuugi, who identifies the item with pure shock. 

I don't know, dude. I don't feel like you should get to define the terms under which Yuugi can trust you. Not after all the shit YOU'VE pulled in the past. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It started out interesting, with the little tidbits here and there indicating that he actually is not present during the moment Yami was acquainted with the tablet in the museum. That in itself isn't new; we've known that there are times when Yuugi just blacks out when Yami is in charge, and times when, later in the chapter, they appear to be simultaneously experiencing events and are more or less SHARING the body. But they do seem to be working off of a sort of "etiquette" rather than "rules" in these more recent circumstances, as opposed to earlier in the manga. 

Here we see that Yami is able to kind of come out and hang in Yuugi's room while he thinks he's sleeping, which indicates he's more free than he seemed to be in the puzzle. He also comes out momentarily to offer to take over for Yuugi when Yuugi is chasing the thief, so clearly his autonomy is very flexible. It suggests, though does not explicitly state, that Yuugi COULD have done the same, poked his head in on Yami and Anzu's outing, but chose not to invade in that moment out of respect. All in all, it draws attention to how their relationship has evolved over the course of the story, from a clumsy and somewhat aggressive involuntary binary between the dual souls, to a cooperative and respectful partnership that allows each of them to share equitably. It's been a long road from one to the other, and I barely even noticed the evolution take place, but that's what makes it so compelling and relatable. 

Continuing on that note, the discussion Yuugi and Yami had in the middle kind of highlights the nature of their relationship being this strange balance of two seemingly opposing concepts - privacy within an intimate space. Their conversation seems strained, because neither one of them wants to be direct, even though they are both painfully aware of what this final quest for Yami's memories will mean. Yuugi is desperately trying to be positive and upbeat about it, even as he subtly tries to assure Yami he will be there with him as long as possible. Yami is trying to express just how likely it is that they will be separated soon, but how he will always treasure the time they had together, while softening the blow of this reality. It's a push and pull of the boundaries of what they want to say to one another, and trying not to be blunt, even though they know by virtue of how close they are what this will mean for the both of them. And, in some ways more importantly, what it will mean for them as a UNIT.

This is probably one of the deepest and most complex relationships I've ever read in fiction. KT really has a lot to say about these two and the wild dynamics of them in so few words, I'm really digging it.

I was a little flummoxed by the second half of the chapter, though - it seemed a tad forced in how it played out. From Yuugi not at least putting the box away in a drawer to make sure it wasn't fully on display under his window to asshole!Bakura just kind of SHOWING UP to stop the thief, it all seemed to be leading to his specific meeting with asshole!Bakura so they could form a tenuous alliance. I suppose asshole!Bakura COULD have compelled the thief to visit Yuugi to teach him a bit of a lesson, and that would definitely go a long way to explain how he was hanging around in the right place at the right time (perhaps the next chapter will contain an explicit statement of such). Still, that doesn't really explain how asshole!Bakura even KNEW that Yuugi wasn't being as careful with the cards as he could have been.

OR, for that matter, why Yuugi is so careless with guarding those cards in the first place. It could be argued that Yuugi kind of left them in an obvious place ON PURPOSE, due to how apprehensive he's been in the past about the impending separation of him and Yami, wanting to avoid that by "accidentally" losing one of the keys to finding Yami's memories. It could even be argued further that his subsequent discussion with Yami, and his promise to be helpful and a partner to him as long as possible put some guilt in Yuugi about trying to deliberately get the cards stolen, and so he was more serious and pushing hard to get them back. But none of that was even slightly indicated in the narrative, so I'm hesitant to make that assertion.

It's an alternative to what was given, though. So, you know. Headcanon.