What if, Yugi's hair color wasn't natural?

I happen to be of the firm belief that it is, because why not? But what if, for the sake of fanfiction, it wasn't? How did he manage to get such crazy hair? Well, here's one way to look at it.

He was average. Well, for the most part. He was a perfectly normal 15 year old boy, who just so happened to be quite a bit shorter than his peers. Why? How was he supposed to know? It was pretty annoying, though. He got teased, because of it. In every other sense, he was average. He had dark brown, scruffy, un-tame-able hair. When he rolled out of bed in the morning, it seemed to stick up at odd, unpredictable, seemingly impossible angles.

Yugi liked games. Didn't everyone his age? Well, yeah, but Yugi liked them a lot more than most people his age. He spent a lot of time playing them. His lack of friends made sure of that. When he was lonely, he would turn to games, or the Puzzle that he just couldn't seem to solve no matter how long he worked on it.

He didn't like to stand out. He liked to blend in, and hope he didn't get noticed. His shortness helped with that sometimes, but it made him stand out if he was in a crowd of people all similar-aged. School, for instance. The people there noticed. The general public didn't seem to care, but the people at school noticed.

There was a break at school, and Yugi did what he did best. Hide in the corner and play a game. Cards this time. This version worked pretty well as a one player game. It wasn't that Yugi didn't want to socialize. No, he had met a lot of nice people in his short time alive, and he liked talking to them, and making friends. He had also met a lot of mean people, intent on teasing and hurting him. It was those people that he was attempting to stay away from.

Just as he wasn't unsocial, Yugi certainly wasn't unfriendly by any means. He greeted everyone he met with a smile. But that didn't mean he wasn't wary of bullies. Being a common target for them, how could he not be?

Someone he barely recognized walked up to his desk, where he was still playing his one-player game of cards.

"Hey, Yugi isn't it?"

He nodded. Was this guy in his class? What did he want?

"I hear you like games."

Yugi nodded again. What did that have to do with anything? Oh no, surely this guy wasn't going to challenge him? No. That didn't really happen often. Most people saw his gaming habits as "odd" or "obsessive", so they didn't care to participate.

"Well, I'm a pretty good gamer myself, and I thought you might like to make a bet."

The unknown boy grinned. Oh no, this wasn't-... It was. It was Kenta Tsuichi. He was known around school for "underground" poker games. Of course, that kind of thing wouldn't have been allowed out in the open, so the games were considered "black market", and the bets usually on money, or the loser having to do whatever the winner wanted for a day. Things like that.

Personally, Yugi didn't want anything to do with it. Secret games with high stakes and punishment if they were found out? That wasn't exactly his cup of tea. But Kenta wasn't the type of person who was easy to say no to. He was fairly big, not as big as Ushio, but close. And almost as strong, too.

"So, what do you say, Yugi? Should I lay out the rules?"

Why him? Why Yugi? Why couldn't he go play his "black market" cards with someone who was interested?

"I...um..."

was all Yugi could get out before Kenta spoke again.

"You know, if you turn me down...well, let's just say you don't want to turn me down."

His tone said it all. No, Yugi couldn't turn him down. He knew what happened to the last people who tried, and it wasn't a fate he envied.

Slowly, he nodded, reluctantly accepting.

Kenta laughed before saying, "Ok, good. Rules, then?"

Yugi nodded again. Oh gosh, what were they this time? Would he have to follow Kenta around like a personal butler for a day? A week? Give him his lunch money for the month? Do something stupid in public, if he lost?

"I see you've got a couple decks of cards there. We'll play poker."

Oh great. The one game Yugi was somewhat unfamiliar with. Most of the games he played were ones that could be played alone.

"If you win...hmm, if you win, I'll confess my love to a random girl toady. Loudly. Embarrassingly. In front of everyone."

So it was THIS kind of game? The kind where the loser got humiliated? Yugi could already tell this wasn't going to go well.

"If I win...you have to dye your hair. At least two different colors. Exotic colors. It's gotta look even more insane than it does now."

And the laughter began.

Yugi found that if he tried to flatten his hair, it just looked worse, (not to mention cheesier) than it did before, when it was sticking up in a big mess. So usually, he just left it alone, maybe running his hands through it to attempt to tame it. But colors? He had never even thought about dying his hair. What would the point be? Things like that draw attention, something he didn't exactly want to do.

Kenta's laughter dyed down, and he finally said,

"So, you accept?"

Yugi nodded, and got out his spare deck of cards, and the game began.

The first part of the game went pretty well for Yugi, but he didn't know poker as well as other card games. Kenta's poker face was perfect. He had practice at this.

Eventually, naturally, Kenta won.

"Hah! So, Monday at school, I want to see your hair look even more ridiculous than it does now, Yugi!"

Yugi sighed.

Could he just not do it? No, whatever Kenta had in store for the losers who didn't follow the rules, was surely worse than the laughter he would get over his hair. Besides, Kenta won fair and square.

He stood in the bathroom, preparing to possibly forever ruin his hair. Kenta said the colors had to be exotic, so Yugi went out and bought two different colors of hair dye. From Hot Topic.

What would he tell his parents? "I'm going through a rebellious teenage phase" would pass, he thought.

On the counter in front of him sat two bottles. "Candy Apple Red" and "Sunstreak Blonde".

He breathed deeply once. It wouldn't be such a big deal. Sure, he'd get laughs, but maybe it would look "cool" when he was done.

Now, where to put it? He didn't think Kenta would be happy with "highlights", so he would have to go all out... Well, first of he had to dry his hair. Wet, it all laid flat against his head and forehead, and he thought it made him look funny.

He thought to himself as he blow dried his hair. Sure, he used a blow dryer. Why not? It made it go faster than if he just dried it with a towel, or let it air dry. That wasn't that weird.

This was always the part where his hair took a turn for the strange.

His hair was always puffy at this point, and it insisted upon sticking up at ridiculous angles.

"Well, I'd better get this over with..." he thought.

Like he'd thought before, highlights wouldn't work. He would have to do something extreme to satisfy Kenta's win.

So, he finally decided on something that might be crazy enough, and he separated his bangs from the rest of his hair, holding them back with bobby pins he had "borrowed" from his mom. Without her knowledge.

"This part can be blonde..." he thought, finally getting it all separate.

The bleach burned at the roots, but he pretended it didn't. That was just what happened when you lose.

He stared into the mirror at his newly bright blonde bangs. Oh gosh, were they going to laugh on Monday... was this kind of hair color even in style right now? Well, it had been done now. No going back.

And there was still one to go!

The container of "Candy Apple Red" hair dye sat on the counter, taunting him. But what to do with it?

Less certain than before, he brushed the dye onto the parts of his hair that insisted upon sticking up in the back, and he hoped Kenta wouldn't count it as "highlights."

He stuck his head in the shower to rinse out the remaining dye, and then stuck a towel on his hair.

Roughly drying it, he stood in the mirror, almost afraid of what he'd see when he took the towel off.

The moment of truth.

He couldn't help but stifle a laugh. Oh great, he was laughing at himself! What would everybody at school think?

But really, it didn't look that bad...

It kind of made him look unique, and it did look cool with his rare eye color...

And with that, he was finally finished. Well, it would at least make for an interesting...how long did this stuff last? Permanent?!

Monday came and went, and it wasn't as bad as Yugi expected. A few kids laughed, but most opted to leave him alone. Kenta laughed, and continued to torture him over it, but that only lasted a few days.

His parents were shocked, but his "rebellious teenage phase" excuse pulled through.

He caught himself in the mirror a couple of months later. Most of his bangs were still blonde, but you could see his roots. Wait, brown roots? Finally! Maybe soon, he would be rid of this multi-hair-color losing streak forever!

He caught himself in the mirror again, a couple more months later, this time at home. Sure enough, almost all of the color had either faded, or grown out. He found his eyes trailing to the drawer. Wait, no! No, he was finally RID of the constant reminder of his loss!

And yet...

He opened the drawer to reveal the remaining dye. He wasn't even sure why he kept it. Was there enough left for another batch? Wait, no! No, surely he wasn't thinking of-...

People were used to it by now... and it did look pretty cool...he could just do it again, maybe just one last time?

And an hour later, and the two colors were back, and brighter than ever. Why did he do that? Didn't he like to blend in? Ah, well.

A year later, and hair color wasn't his biggest problem anymore. Not even close. He had solved the Millennium Puzzle, met the spirit inside, and teamed up with him to save the stolen souls of his Grandfather and the Kaiba brothers.

But that didn't mean he didn't notice when his brown roots started to show. Every time he dyed it, he thought "Just this one last time", but he had been back to Hot Topic numerous times to buy the stuff. So much so, that they employees knew him, and exactly what he was there for.

Why did he keep it in the crazy colors? He wasn't even sure of that, himself. But it was always the same two, for over a year now. Until the day the unexpected happened.

He didn't spend a ton of time in Hot Topic. The people there scared him sometimes, and chains and belts weren't exactly his thing, even if he did wear more belts than the average person. But this day, he was just there for more hair dye. Maybe someday he would break the habit. Surely, once it turned gray, he couldn't keep dying the bangs blonde, and the spikes red.

He scanned the shelf for the two colors he needed. It had been the same for so long, he never considered anything else. People were beginning to think it was natural. But this day, was different.

He quickly found the shade of blonde he was used to. But the red. Where was the Candy Apple Red?

The employee, his friend, must have noticed him, because he was beside him in a few seconds.

"Oh hey, Yugi. I thought you'd show soon. Listen, I've got bad news."

Bad news?

"They're not makin' that color you like anymore. Discontinued it last month. Sorry bro. I know you dig that one."

Oh, come on. He couldn't change it after all this time! Could he? Nodding at the employee, he kept scanning the shelf, looking for something similar. "Maroon"... would that work? Well, it would be worth trying...

Surprisingly, no one seemed to notice the sudden change of color, from red to a more purple-ish. To the point where Yugi once bought a pure, all out, "Purple" just to see if they noticed. Nope.

After putting the latest batch in his hair, to cover the roots at the blonde, Yugi thought to himself,

"And to think, all of this because I lost a card game.".

With the feeling of curiosity not his own, he realized that he hadn't told Ymai this story.

And so he did tell him. To which his darker half's surprising response was,

"And you're sure he beat you fairly?"

/Wh-what? Yes... I mean...I guess so.../

That was back before most of his games were Shadow Games, with his soul on the line. He hadn't been paying quite as close attention back then.

"Why don't you let me play a game with him?"

/Oh, come on, Yami. That was over a year ago! He probably doesn't even remember it./

"Does he still go to your school?"

Well, he was in for it now. Once Yami had his sights set on a game, there was little Yugi could do to talk him out of it.

/Yeah...and he still tries to lure kids into "illegal" games of poker, too.../

And so, the very next day, Yugi found himself watching from the sidelines of his own mind, while Kenta was challenged to what Yugi guessed would probably be his last poker game.

"Yugi? You're back, huh? Come back to lose again?" And he laughed. Little did he know, he wouldn't be playing against Yugi at all.

Kenta wasn't deterred by Yugi's new "King of Games" status. Duel Monsters wasn't poker, after all.

But when Yami played, there was little to no chance of losing. Regardless of what the game was.

The game didn't have to go very long before he caught was he was looking for. It was hard to catch unless you knew exactly what you were looking for. The tip of the white card could be seen, slipping out of Kenta's sleeve at lightning speed.

"Cheater."

"Wh-what? No! You can't call me a cheater!"

"I can, and I have. Kenta Tsuichi! Your true nature is revealed!"

Kenta stood up, obviously angry with Yami's observation.

"Yeah, so what if I did cheat, what are you gonna do about it?! Huh?!"

To Kenta's ears, the low chuckle sounded deranged. What was that short punk laughing at?

/Yami, what are you gonna do to him?/

"Don't worry, I won't hurt him. That bad."

Yugi knew he wouldn't resort to punishments quite like he had in the beginning, but that didn't mean he wasn't suspicious as to what he was still capable of.

/Do not send him to the shadow realm over cheating at poker.../

"Oh, come on. Okay, what if I just make him play a Penalty Game?"

/Yami.../

"I won't kill him, you know that. But he cheated you, and he's been cheating kids in this school for a long time. Let me have some fun with him."

The light air to his comments made Yugi believe him. In the time they'd known each other, the time since Yugi solved the Puzzle, Yami had become much more...stable.

Yugi sighed, knowing he'd been defeated, but not being upset by it in the least.

/You're going to give him a Penalty Game whether I say so or not, aren't you./

"Yes, yes I was."

"Well?! Gonna do somethin', punk?!"

As Yami shouted "Penalty Game!" and Kenta fell backwards, cards came pouring out of the long sleeves of his school uniform.

Yugi expected him to yell out in pain, or agony, or fear of whatever images Yami might have made him see. What Yugi didn't expect, was for Kenta to fall backwards, surprised at the words, into a hallway crowded with kids, most of which he knew, and look...fine. He looked ok? No punishments?

Suddenly, everyone in the hallway stopped. They all stared at the cards formerly hidden in Kenta's sleeves, his cheating suddenly becoming obvious. Everyone in school would know by tomorrow afternoon.

He would be absolutely humiliated.

"See? I told you I wouldn't hurt him. Just his pride."