Last time on Yu-Gi-Oh: Transcendence...
"Grandpa!"
...Where?
"Grandpa! We need help!"
Is someone... carrying me...?
"Open the door!!"
"Yugi, what's all of the- what on earth happened to you?!"
So loud...
"I'll try and explain later! She needs help!!"
That voice...
"Bring her inside!"
I know it...
"Hang in there, Sango, you're going to be okay!"
Yugi...?
...
It's so dark... and cold... why can't I move?
Sango felt as if she were floating in an endless black void, her body still and motionless, eyes sealed shut. Why was she here...? Had she... died? Was this... the afterlife?
"...Remember..."
A woman's voice? Who's there? Sango wondered; it sounded so far off in the darkness.
"Please..."
There it was again! However, when she tried to center her focus on that pleading voice, a sharp sting of pain in her neck caused her to wince.
"Sango?"
Now that voice sounded familiar... but... who was it again?
"Sango, can you hear me?"
"Don't forget..."
The voices were both running into one another now. Who was calling out to her, though? They sounded... scared. Why?
"Please..."
"Please, say something!"
"Remember..."
"Sango!"
"Please!!"
...
Sango groaned painfully, her fingers twitching slightly and eyelids slowly beginning to lift. At first, she immediately wanted to close her eyes again when bright sunlight filled them — causing the teen to squint for a moment. Sango winced quietly, lifting a hand to shade her face until they began to adjust and she, at last, opened them to where she could see. Blurred vision steadily focused, her blue eyes immediately met with a pair of violet eyes gazing down at her with great concern.
"...Sango?"
Confused, Sango furrowed her dark brows.
Where am I?
At this quizzical thought, the teen's eyes wandered the room... this wasn't her house... and was she on a couch?
Then, the raven-haired girl looked back to the boy kneeled at her side. Why did he look so anxious? "You're... Yugi... right?"She murmured, still feeling very drowsy — her memories of the previous night foggy.
A wide relieved smile spread over the tri-color-haired boy's face when Sango spoke, the twist of anxiety fading from his features. "Yeah, that's me! Thank goodness you're okay! You've been unconscious since last night."He explained, noting the confused look on his new friend's face. "Oh! You're in my Grandpa's shop; I brought you here after you collapsed."
"You... brought me...?"Sango asked, her voice drifting off, the events of the previous evening slowly returning to her.
"Good eye..."The man who'd just passed by the dumpster smirked, approaching the duo with his own catch in the form of Yugi being pulled along by his arm, the boy grunting and trying to pull his arm free.
Gritting her teeth, Sango glared up at the man dragging Yugi along. "Let him go! He has nothing to do with what you're after!"She demanded, whimpering when the man behind her pulled her hair higher and, thus, forced her to stand on her tiptoes.
Now, the man holding Yugi smirked. "Maybe he doesn't, but maybe you'll play nicer if I keep holdin' onto him for good measure."
"What happened?!"Immediately, Sango tried to jolt up into a sitting position when the memory flashed through her mind. "Are you okay?!"The muscles of her neck twitched to full alertness. However, another stabbing pain in her neck made the teen whimper and fall on her back against the couch once again. "O-Ow...!"
"Whoa, take it easy!!"Yugi urged, quickly grabbing the cold towel that'd previously been folded over her neck and had now fallen in her lap. "Your neck is really bruised. Grandpa said you should rest more."He said, placing the towel against her neck carefully and holding it in place.
"That's right... one of the men in a suit tried to..."
"Behind you!!"Yugi shouted, but Sango's reflexes weren't quite fast enough. By the time she turned around, a large hand had grabbed her by the neck and shoved her over against the nearby dumpster.
Gasping for air, Sango looked up at the man holding her... the same guy she'd kicked in the groin was glaring down at her vengefully. "You'll pay for that low blow, you little brat!!"He hissed through his teeth, pressing Sango back against the dumpster with both hands holding her neck and slowly squeezing — her hands desperately clawing at his arms. "I oughta strangle you right here."
"Sango!!"Yugi cried, desperately trying to pull his arm free. "Stop it! She can't breathe!"
"That's right..."Sango lifted her hand towards the cold rag on her neck. That must've been the shot of pain she'd felt in that weird dream. "Then you..."
Sango could scarcely breathe, her blue eyes only barely still open with her blurry vision falling on Yugi when the pendant he'd been wearing started to glow. A sudden wind picked up, seeming to fill the alley; she felt the man's hands around her neck loosen and then release her entirely. Collapsing over onto her side, Sango coughed heavily, her arms and legs feeling too heavy to move.
The girl's blue eyes widened, and her hand suddenly paused just above Yugi's, remembering the warm golden glow that'd filled the alley just before she passed out. "Your... pendant..."Looking down towards the odd upside-down pyramid-shaped pendant that Yugi wore around his neck, Sango found herself confused and at a loss for words.
Yugi rose his brows in confusion when Sango's attention drifted down, following them to his golden treasure. "Oh! You mean my Millenium Puzzle?"He asked, lifting the ancient relic with one hand. "It's kinda like my family treasure."
"I'm surprised those thugs didn't try to take it too, then..."Sango said, lowering her hand from her neck to the collar of her uniform. "I owe you for saving me..."The teen murmured thoughtfully, recalling the boy's curiosity about her own treasure. "Do you... want to see the family heirloom they were trying to take from me?"
Taken aback by the offer, Yugi's eyes lit up with curiosity. "I'd really like to!"He exclaimed on a first impulse but then backpedaled. "O-Oh, but... are you sure that's okay? You said it's supposed to be kept a secret."
"You saved my life... I think I can trust you with this secret."Sango's expression softened; Yugi had said he was from the public High School... but there was an almost childlikeness to him not only in his physical stature but also in his personality.
Now wearing a little smile on her lips, Sango started to cautiously sit herself up while trying her best to move her neck as little as possible. "Besides... I do owe you... and you seemed really interested. No one usually cares that much."
Yugi ended up grabbing her arm and shoulder to help her sit up and lean against the back of the couch before sitting down beside her. Was this okay? She was telling him a big secret, and she was supposed to be resting...
"It's an ancient relic from Egypt. My dad had some Egyptian blood."
The mention of Egypt immediately captured the boy's attention again, as well as another post of Sango's sentence.
Had...? Yugi thought, watching Sango reach into the collar of her school uniform and pull out a long golden chain, clutching something in her palm. When she opened the said palm, the teen revealed a large polished blue jewel embedded in gold. "Oh wow! Is that a sapphire?"
"It is, it's called "Ra's Sapphire" and once belonged to an Egyptian Queen. There's a story my dad used to tell me about it: that this Saphire was a gift to the soon-to-be queen as a gift from the Pharaoh when he proposed to her."Sango smiled warmly at the thought, nostalgia filling her heart from the memory. "I always thought it was a romantic story, even as cliché as it is for a guy to give a girl some big jewel for a proposal gift."She chuckled lightly to herself, pushing some of her bangs from her face, only for them to fall between her eyes again.
"It's beautiful, Sango!"Yugi smiled down in awe at the jewel. The blue almost reminded him of her eyes... it was like a piece of the ocean given solid form. "Your family must take excellent care of it! It's ancient, but there's hardly a scratch on it."He added, picking up his puzzle from his neck and holding it out for Sango to better see. "My Puzzle is from Egypt, too! Grandpa says they found it in an ancient Pharaoh's tomb way back, and whoever solved it was supposed to have their wish granted to them."
Now Sango was the one who looked curious, peering at Yugi with a quizzical expression. "So... did it grant your wish when you solved it?"The supernatural was always an exciting concept to Sango, she wasn't incredibly superstitious, but the idea of forces that couldn't be explained fascinated her beyond words.
"I think so. It was through the puzzle that I met my friends."Yugi smiled widely, a smile that Sango then shared in herself. "Now I think I've just made another."
"Wait... me...?"Sango blinked, smiling awkwardly and lightly tugging at a lock of her hair that sat in front of her shoulder. "You'd really want me as your friend? After all the stuff I put you through last night? We don't even attend the same school... are you sure?"Despite her questioning his decision, there was a hopefulness in her voice, but also a sort of... nervousness that Yugi wasn't sure of.
Yugi chuckled a bit at Sango's sudden timidity. Last night, she was fighting a pair of guys to protect him, and now she was fidgeting over something as simple as becoming his friend. "Of course, I'm sure! I know my friends would agree, too!"
"Thanks, Yugi..."A light blush tinted the teen's cheeks, blue eyes falling to the Saphire hanging by its chain over the cliff of her chest. "I haven't really had any real friends before since we used to move around so much I never really bothered to try."
"Oh?"Yugi blinked and tilted his head slightly, standing up to sit on the couch next to her. "If you don't mind, why did you move so much?"
"Well... you see..."Sango paused a moment, removing her hand from her hair to tightly grasp her pendant, eyes falling to the floor as her expression dwindled. "My father was military... it was a sort of tradition for the men on his side of the family."
Furrowing his brow, Yugi's gaze also lowered, and he frowned. "Oh... I see."He said quietly, unwilling to look up and see his new friend's sad expression. "Well... my dad is a businessman. I don't actually remember how he looks since... well... he hasn't been home for a long time, and my mom doesn't live here at the Game Shop like us. I live here with just my Grandpa... so..."Humming to himself, the teen rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while the other still tightly held his Millenium Puzzle.
"You're... trying to help, right?"
Finally, Yugi lifted his head to meet Sango's gaze. She bore a meek smile, eyes glimmering with dampness while both of her hands closed tightly around Ra's Sapphire. "Thank you, "The girl softly mouthed, staring down at her own lap. "Thank you for trying to understand... that's more than anyone else has given me."
Managing a smile of his own, Yugi tentatively lifted his hand from his puzzle to set it over one of Sango's hands clasped around the Sapphire. "I'm your friend now, Sango. So I'll always try to understand so I can help. You don't have to be alone anymore."
Just then, a blinding golden radiance poured out from between Sango's fingers — the teens gasping in alarm. "It's never done this before..."Sango said in awe, opening her palms to gaze down at her pendant.
Pulling his hand back, Yugi looked utterly amazed. "It's glowing!"A halo-like glow had engulfed the blue gem, but now it was starting to fade.
Once the light died down ultimately, the two looked from the gem back to each other as if hoping one would have an answer. What'd just happened...?
Ra's Sapphire has never glowed like that before... what does it mean? Sango wondered, slowly blinking at Yugi. It reminded me of that golden glow from Yugi's puzzle last night.
"I'm back, Yugi!"
"Huh?"Startled, Sango swiftly stuffed her pendant back into her top and looked up upon hearing an unfamiliar man's voice, only to be greeted with a tiny old man. This must be his Grandfather... those fringes in his hair are a dead giveaway.
"Welcome back, Grandpa!"Yugi exclaimed, but it was his turn to be surprised when three others followed his Grandfather into the room. "What're you guys doing here?"
Joey, Tristan, and Téa all looked a bit surprised but also relieved. "You never came to school, so we came to check on you, "Téa said, leaning sideways somewhat to eye the dark-haired girl sitting on the couch beside Yugi. Who was she?
Nodding in agreement, Joey chimed in. "Yeah! Then we ran into your Grandpa here, and he said you'd been attacked by thugs last night, Yoog."The blonde then clenched his fist. The very thought of his best bud getting ganged up on by thugs made his blood boil.
"We were all worried sick about you, man. Glad to see you don't look hurt."Tristan sighed in relief, sliding his school bag off his shoulder and setting it in the doorway behind him.
"So, uh, who's the chick?"Joey finally asked what'd been on the minds of all three of Yugi's friends since they stepped into the room.
"Oh, right! This is Sango; she's the girl I met yesterday."Yugi introduced after taking a moment to realize what Joey meant, gesturing to the girl beside him. "Sango, these are my friends from school."
"I see. It's a pleasure to meet you."Sango promptly stood up, resiliently pushing the pains in her neck aside and bowing politely. "I'm Sango Fujimoto. I'm attending the Domino Private School for girls."
Lifting her head, the dark-haired girl was surprised to see Joey and Tristain eyeing her up and down as if inspecting her. "Erm..."Standing back upright, she crossed her arms under her bust self-consciously. "Is there something wrong?"
Immediately, Téa jammed her elbow into Joey's side, causing the blonde to practically wheeze and bump into Tristain — the pair falling over. "Jeez, I'm sorry about those two. They aren't really the brightest bulbs when it comes to girls."
The brunette sighed, running her fingers through her bangs. "I'm Téa, Téa Gardner."She then introduced herself, offering Sango her hand with a wide smile.
"Oh... I see..."Sango smiled nervously at the groaning pair on the floor, taking Téa's hand and shaking it. "It's alright. My uniform probably looks strange."
Then, Joey finally sat up, rubbing his side with a side-eye glare in his female friend's direction. "Ugh, what's the big idea, Téa?!"He exclaimed, jumping up with a huff. "Whatevs, anyway, I'm Joey Wheeler. Nice ta meetcha!"
"Likewise... you're rather informal, aren't you, "Sango noted, lightly clasping her hands behind her with a smile. "That's a relief."
"Eh?"Joey gave the girl a confused look, brows risen and mouth hanging a bit open. "What's that mean?"He questioned, glancing at Tristan, who also got up and approached.
"The name's Tristan Taylor, "The brunette greeted, offering Sango his most charming smile while catching her hand in his palm. "But you can call me whatever you want."
"Erm..."Sango both smiled and chuckled nervously at the coy gesture. "Thank you, I think I'll stick to calling you by your name, though."
"So, what're you doing here, Sango?"Téa inquired curiously. Yugi and Sango both froze in place.
A/N: I'm so sorry it's taken so long to finally update this book! I promise I'm working on it when I can between my (many) other fanfics! I'm very excited to tell Sango's story, and I've even got a prequel in planning to follow Chione's tale, as well!
If you enjoyed what you just read, please give this (and its other chapters) a vote and feel free to comment! I'm always looking for constructive feedback to improve my writing or hear what you all want to see in the future!