Here's another Puzzleshipping one-shot of mine, though this one's different than my other one I currently have posted. It's also based off of a song called "How Do You Like Me Now?" by Toby Keith, as I find that it fits the plot to a certain extent. Here's a back story:

Yugi's grown apart from his friends, basically becoming a mini Seto Kaiba - at best. He swears like a sailor, dresses differently, etc. He refuses to duel or hang out with any one he knew previously, which brings us to the biggest warning for this story:

Yugi's quite OOC, obviously, so if you're going to read this just to rant about how this would never happen to Yugi, or "Yugi would never act like this", I recommend you click the back button and continue on your merry little way. :)

I also do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Enjoy the one-shot!

When people thought of Yugi Moto, they used to think of a small, bubbly boy who cared for his friends more than anything, had odd, gravity-defying hair, incredibly large eyes, and an equally large passion for games - specifically, dueling.

But that Yugi Moto no longer existed.

Now, that friendly smile was cold, harsh, and uncaring - hell, it was more of smirk than a smile.

Those large mauve eyes that used to be full of determination and compassion were nothing but empty, purple shells that hid depression and sadness.

His odd-yet-lovable hair was pulled into a ponytail daily, leaving only the blonde bangs to blow in the wind.

The leather he'd adored so much was now replaced by ripped jeans and a plain black t-shirt, and he'd long since gotten rid of his Duel Disk and deck. He didn't even want to be around things related to dueling, leaving his Grandpa to operate the shop on his own.

What happened to Yugi, you may ask?

No one knew.

Though he was certainly saddened by the Pharaoh's departure, everyone had assumed he'd gotten over it, as he was back to his usual cheerful self not a month after. Nothing had happened to him that anyone knew of; and his friends certainly hadn't left his side.

So what could it be?

Yugi's friends - including Ryou, and even Marik - had asked him countless times, begging him to announce what was wrong.

"What's up, Yugi? You've changed, more than I'd liked to admit. What happened to you?"

"Are you alright? You're not acting like yourself... what's wrong, Yugi?"

"Please, Yugi, you're worrying us. You're worrying me! What happened to you?"

"C'mon, Yug. You never want to duel with us anymore! Heck, you don't even want to talk to us anymore! What's going on?"

"This isn't the same kid I saw during Battle City. Seriously; what's wrong with you?"

Even Seto raised an eyebrow when Yugi flipped him off during lunch. The CEO had simply walked over to talk to the boy - his friends would never know what Seto had planned to say - and had received the middle finger before he could form a word. Shrugging, he'd walked away, but not before raising an eyebrow and staring at the boy in front of him.

Yugi never swore. Even saying something as tame as "damn" or "hell" had only crossed his mind, and that was for the brief moments when he was really upset. He had had the cleanest mouth in school; the only one similar to him being Ryou.

Before, anyway.

But before what?

"Yugi, one of your friends called," his grandfather announced hesitantly, eyeing his rebellious grandson as he sat - reluctantly - at the table. The boy snorted.

"I thought I told you. I don't associate myself with them anymore. They aren't my friends."

"Why, Yugi?"

Yugi glanced up from his dinner, glaring slightly at his grandfather. "Why what?"

"Why are you so... cold? So frigid?" Solomon frowned, deeply troubled. "You're just as bad as that Seto Kaiba, that same boy who you tried to reach out to countless times. You might've surpassed him, for Christ's sake..."

Seto Kaiba.

Yugi blinked at the name.

"Always relying on Yami Yugi to save you," Seto sneered, enjoying the annoyed look on his rival's face. "Always hiding behind him, like the little coward you are..."

I'm not a coward.

Stop saying that...

Please... leave me alone... give me back my Millennium Puzzle! My Grandpa gave that to me!

Jounouchi snickered, "In your dreams, kid. Hope you have a nice swim getting it back!"

"Puny little wimp!"

"Can't lift a finger to defend himself!"

"I bet that Anzu girl is stronger than he is!"

No...

Leave me alone...

Stop it!

STOP IT!

I'm not puny! I'm not a wimp! I can defend myself!

"Worthless piece of shit."

"Everyone will be smiling at your funeral. No one's going to miss you, after all. Who would?"

Anzu... Jounouchi... Honda... they all would! I swear!

"Your little friends don't care about you. They just took pity on you. Think about how much better off they'd be if they'd never met you. I've bet you've put them through hell, yet all your scrawny little brain can think about is whether or not they actually care about you. You don't deserve to be cared about."

They... they don't care about me, do they? The only one who cared about me is gone... forever...

He's never coming back...

Please, Yami! Come back to me! Don't leave me here! I, I want to see you again!

"PLEASE!"

"Yugi! Yugi, what's wrong? Please, wake up!"

His Grandpa was shaking him, amethyst eyes so much like Yugi's own glowing with worry. The previously-kind youth blinked a few times before glaring at the old man before him.

"Nothing you care about," Yugi snorted, shoving his grandfather away before taking long strides towards the stairs. His grandfather's eyes widened.

"What do you mean, "nothing I care about"?"

The teenager scoffed. "You asked me "what's wrong", and I'm telling you, it's nothing you care about. There. Satisfied?"

And before the old man could reply, Yugi had already stomped up the stairs, slamming the door to his room shut, bolting the lock the moment the door closed.

Throwing himself onto the bed, he allowed fresh tears to trail down his cheeks, eyes burning with many emotions that seemed uncommon in those usually bright orbs.

"How do you like me now, Kaiba?" Yugi spat the name with bitter hatred, eyes clenched shut, fists shaking. "Now that I'm no longer the leader of "Nerd Patrol"? Now that I'm not some wimp who relies on his other self to beat your ass in duels? Hell, you should be giggling with glee! Yami's gone now, after all - I'm sure you're doing some little jig in your prissy little office!"

He whipped his head to the side, glaring at the picture of him and his 'friends'. "You all... Anzu, all you did was preach about friendship, yet all you cared about was Yami. You never gave a single damn about me once you laid eyes on him. Jounouchi... my supposed best friend. I said I forgave you for throwing my Puzzle away. But you're just like Anzu. All you ever cared about was fighting alongside the 'King of Games'. I was nothing but his other self. His weak, useless other self. And Honda... always acting like the macho man, yet only doing it so Jounouchi's little sister'll fall in love with your ass. You left me behind, too. I guess Shizuka's more important, eh?"

Yugi scoffed at his own words, giggling madly. "Aw, who am I kidding. Everyone's more important than I am."

Despite his words, he didn't sound emotionally affected by the thought of his friends not caring about him.

But that was only how he sounded, not how he felt.

Pushing himself off of the bed, Yugi strode over to his window, gazing at the moon. He narrowed his eyes when a familiar figure's face appeared on the moon's mysterious white surface.

"Yugi... I can't believe this has happened to you..." Yami's smooth, concerned voice filled the room, and Yugi found himself comforted by it; though he didn't let it show.

"What's happened to me?" Yugi smirked. "Why, nothing's happened to me. I'm perfectly fine."

"The tear streaks on your face tell me otherwise, aibou," the former Pharaoh responded calmly, as if speaking with a young child.

"Don't call me that," Yugi snarled, throwing his head back and laughing mirthlessly. "Aibou?! Partner?! As if. The only part of me anyone's ever cared about is you! The last thing I am is your fucking partner! Since when have we worked together?"

"You don't remember?" Yami sounded genuinely shocked, crimson eyes widening.

"What's there to remember?" The tri-color haired boy laughed, shaking his head. "Goodbye, Yami."

"Goodbye..." Yami smiled slightly. "...aibou."

Yugi rolled his eyes and slammed the window shut, pulling the blinds down. How dare that bastard call him aibou, when there was nothing they'd ever done together that made sense of the word.

Nothing at all...

...or was there something?

"Maybe... maybe he's right. Maybe I really don't remember..." Yugi sighed softly, glancing at the shut window. He half-ran, half-walked over to it and opened it once more, praying the Spirit of the Puzzle would still be there.

And, to his surprise, he still was, gazing lovingly at his hikari.

"Change your mind?" Yami asked, a gentle teasing tone to his voice. He smiled. "I'm sure you don't truly want to be as bad as Kaiba, do you?"

Yugi shook his head. "Not particularly, no."

The smile on Yami's face abruptly vanished. "Yugi... tell me the truth," the crimson-eyed duelist said softly, but firmly. "What made you turn into who you currently are? Was it bullying? Depression? Did something happen to one of your friends?"

Yugi's eyes turned so cold, Yami himself shivered, shocked by the utter bitterness that burned in those amethyst jewels.

"My friends," Yugi sneered, trying to quell the hurt that burned in his eyes. "They aren't my friends anymore, Yami. They didn't care about me then, and they don't care about me now."

Yami shook his head, "I think you'd be surprised, aibou. Take a look."

He gestured towards a glowing white orb, which suddenly filled with what looked to be Anzu's bedroom, along with Anzu, who had tears sparkling in her sapphire eyes.

"Yugi, I'm so sorry if I hurt you," the girl whispered softly, hands clasped over a picture of her and the boy together. "I... I never meant to, I swear! If there's something, anything, I can do to turn you back into the sweet boy you were... the one who cared about his friends, cared about who he was, cared about being the best he could be... please, tell me. Please..."

Yugi's eyes softened, and immediately, he felt guilty for saying what he'd said about Anzu. The girl did love talking about friendship, but then again, she'd always lived up to those speeches, hadn't she? Always loving and looking out for them; Yugi realized he was luckier than he thought he was. Anzu had never chosen Yami over him. His own jealous mind had conceived that lie.

"I'm sorry, Anzu..." Yugi whispered, gazing at the broken brunette before him.

Soon, the the orb glowed once more, and Jounouchi's room flashed before his eyes. The blonde was sitting on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with a troubled look on his face. His golden eyes glowed with regret, as if he'd just done something terrible.

"I-I, I know I never was the smartest guy in the group, Yug, but..." Jou swallowed, taking a breath, before adding, "but I know you aren't normally like this. Everyone at school knows it. All I want to know is... have I done something wrong? Did I screw up or something? Was it me? Anzu? Honda? 'Cause if it was, you'd know they'd apologize in a heartbeat. I'd apologize the quickest of 'em all. I'm sorry, Yugi, if I haven't been the best friend I could be."

Yugi felt his heart clench at the last sentence, once again filled with guilt. Jou had always stuck by him, encouraging his friend and cheering him on no matter what. It hadn't mattered if it were Yami or Yugi dueling; he'd shown the same amount of support for both of them.

But before Yugi could whisper his apologies to Jounouchi, the orb flashed again, and soon, Honda's bedroom appeared, showing the brunette glaring at himself in the mirror.

"Look at you," Honda grunted to himself, chocolate eyes narrowed in anger. "Yugi might be a jerk now, but why the hell aren't you over at his house interrogating him? Who gives a damn if he shoves you away or not. You're supposed to be the mature one, the older-voice-of-reason, the tough guy who's always protecting people, yet you can't even lift a goddamn finger to help Yugi!"

The teen sighed, agitated. "Some friend I am. Sorry, Yugi... I wish I could've been there for you. Stopped whatever's currently eating away at you. I - no, we would've helped you. I swear it. Why can't you just realize that?"

"I have realized it," Yugi said to himself as the orb disappeared, eyes damp with sadness. "And I wish I would've realized it sooner. Realized it before I hurt every single one of the people who've cared about me even when I became the jerk I was."

"The jerk you were?" Yami inquired suddenly, raising an eyebrow hopefully. Yugi nodded his head.

"I'm never going to be that bastard again. I much prefer the Yugi who was obsessed with a children's card game, and spent all of his time either playing it or hanging with his friends."

Yami grinned. "Good. And I missed that leather outfit of yours," he winked.

The smaller boy blushed, rolling his eyes. "Shut up, you." His eyes suddenly brightened. "Say, Yami. If you're here now... does that mean...?"

The former Pharaoh shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not, Yugi. I doubt I can ever become flesh and blood again without taking over your body, and I've promised to myself I'd never do that again. However," he smiled, "I'll always be here when you need me."

"Not just at night, right?" Yugi asked, an innocent, child-like hopefulness to his voice.

Yami laughed. "Not just at night. Whenever you need me, aibou, I'll be here."

"Thank you, Yami. Now, if you'll excuse me," Yugi yawned, stretching his arms. "I think I'll catch some shut-eye. I'll need all the strength I can get if I'm to apologize to my friends."

"Including Kaiba?"

"...maybe."

Yami burst out laughing at his aibou's response, joy filling his heart when he heard Yugi join in on his laughter. He hadn't heard that beautiful sound in far, far too long.

It was about time Yugi started smiling again.

Allow me to explain a few things. Firstly, you might be wondering why Yugi cheered up and reformed so quickly once he laid eyes on Yami, despite the fact that he's been a total bastard for months.

It's because one of the major reasons Yugi became said bastard is because Yami left, and he felt as if he had no one else. So when Yami returned, he realized how stupid he was being once Yami pointed it out to him.

Secondly, I could see this happen to Yugi - albeit he might not go as far as to change his clothes or his hairstyle, but I think it could happen to him. Honestly, no one's perfect - Yugi can't be positive 24/7 about everything. He's a human being and feels pain, just as much as the others do. Perhaps he just deals with it better, sometimes. But he feels it all the same.

Thirdly, I made sure I portrayed Yugi's friends correctly. I read the manga mostly (though I have seen the anime), and there, Yugi's friends are far closer to him than they are in the anime (in my opinion). There's no doubt they'd be severely bashing themselves for letting Yugi sink into such a pit. I also hate Anzu / Tea bashing. I don't love Anzu, but I most certainly don't hate her, so I made sure to keep her in character (unlike, sadly, most Puzzleshippers).

Lastly, I apologize deeply for how rushed this is. Christmas is over now, so I don't have to rush everywhere worrying about things, but when I wrote this it was Christmas Eve or so, and I found that, if I edited it, it wouldn't fit. So I'm forced to leave it how it is. Please forgive me!

I do hope you enjoyed the fic, though.I hope you had a Merry Christmas, beautiful Puzzleshippers! :)