lmao okay so, it goes something like this:
Karuta (my version of Mama Mutou for whoever stumbles on this who doesnāt already know) is a. Slightly more present parent than she is in the comic. (In that she exists for more than ten panels.) So she knows about Yugiās friends, his recent interest in Duel Monsters and that he won a tournament, but she doesnāt know about Yami. (she hasā¦ suspicions? but theyāve never formally Met)
Until the fire, of course.
And thereās a lot of people she could blame for this. Sugoroku, for technically starring this whole mess. The Otogis, who are the ones who actually injured Yugi and almost killed him.
But she has to ask. Why did Yugi risk his life for the Puzzle? sure itās valuable, historically and monetarily, but ā itās just a necklace. Isnāt it?
At which point Jou or someone else in the nerd herd mumbles something about Yugi not wanting to leave a friend behind, especially someone he worked so hard to meet, and keep.
And Karuta asks, what do you mean by that. Explain. Tell me what my only son risked his life for.
Later that night, Karuta comes to Yugiās bedside. Visiting hours are over, but sheās a nurse at this hospitalās ICU, and this is her son. Sheās allowed privacy.
She says to her sonās sleeping body, āI know youāre in there.ā
No response. Yugi sleeps on, a slight wheeze in his voice. The cannula in his nose glistens in the low light.
āTalk to me,ā Karuta says, voice low.
The Puzzle is at Yugiās bedside. She picks it up, the chain rattling. Despite how hot the fire was, neither the Puzzle nor its chain are damaged. But Yugiās hands certainly are ā the burn scars on his palms and fingertips will always bear marks of gold puzzle edges.
āTalk to me,ā Karuta says again, leaning towards Yugiās body, her voice nearly a growl, āor I break this goddamn thing and toss it in the ocean.ā
Yugiās eyes finally open. But theyāre not his.
The demon turns Yugiās head. Looks at her with her sonās eyes, but redder. Her sonās face, pinched by thisā¦ thing into a rictus of fear. The monitor attached to her sonās body beeps a warning as his heart rate raises and his pulse ox lowers.
In the movies demons start spitting bile, vomiting as their heads rotate, climb the walls as they spew obscenities.
This demon does none of those things.
The demon casts a worried glance at the monitor and tries to steady (its? his? their?) breath, pressing a bandaged palm to Yugiās chest. Takes slow, steady breaths, as best it can. Does this until Yugiās stats improve, the monitor beeping its placid rhythm.
āPlease,ā it says, quietly, in a voice that doesnāt belong to Yugi, ālet me explain before you kill me.ā
Karutaās stomach sinks, goes cold. She realizes two things very quickly:
She just threatened to kill a child that was almost murdered. A child her son tried to save.
