Honda's Ghost Part 8

Here’s a shocker. Never assume everything is going well.

You might have thought after seeing just how dangerous the Spirit of the Puzzle was, I would have been more careful, and I was.

I was so busy looking out for external dangers I managed to ignore the danger from within.

I never asked.

Didn’t even consider the fact I needed to ask.

Some days I could curse myself for being so short sighted. Although I suppose the fault in this case was being too far sighted. I was looking out for threats so far off in the future they might as well not exist, while beneath my very feet the ground became unstable.

The fact remains, I did not foresee this problem, did not consider it a problem, did not take it into account.

I had disregarded one very important element in my plans.

I was a simpleton, an idiot, a heartless fool.

I had forgotten Honda.

It probably seems like an impossible fact, how could I forget Honda? We shared a body, a fate. Yet to me he was an impossibility, a sheer cliff-face I was unable to climb, a locked door I held no keys for.

I shared every day with him, yet I had no idea what was going on in his head or heart.

He slipped between my plans like an obedient little solider, going along with my plots, never really objecting or putting forth his own opinion.

I suppose I should have guessed.

I suppose I was too close to the problem.

I had dropped into his life with no warning, yanked him up short on his behaviour, told his best friend that it was okay to befriend someone Honda considered just short of a total loss.

I suppose it wouldn’t surprise you to hear that he resented me and Yugi.

It surprised me.

I had him trapped between a rock and a hard place, and I didn’t even realise it.

I had been narrowing down his options while making him very aware of exactly how dangerous the World was.

He was terrified of me, and at this point I can’t even say he was wrong to be afraid.

I had effectively cut him off from his main support, he couldn’t warn about Yugi to Jonouchi, or even complain about him because I had thrown my support behind Jonouchi befriending the little guy.

If he objected now...

Well, in my mind if he had objected Jonouchi might have assumed Honda was feeling left out and probably made more of an effort to include him. In Honda’s mind it would have been another major clue that there was something very wrong with him, and possibly lose him his friend.

I could see both sides.

I know which was more likely, but Honda had been swirling down, his thoughts getting darker as I fell into despair and depression.

I knew when my thoughts took a dark road, and I could usually find a way to take those first few steps back into the light.

Honda didn’t have that experience.

I wonder if our thoughts were mirrored in darkness, would they likewise me mirrored in light?

No, that wasn’t important.

If I had known...

Honda blamed me for his raising grades. It seems like such a small thing, but I guess I can understand why he didn’t feel like he owned the achievement, if he assumed my presence somehow conveyed greater intelligence.

The English maybe, but the rest? I was tutoring him, but did he assume would happen if someone spent that much dedicated time making sure he understood something? It wasn’t like I could force the information into his brain, believe me, I tried.

Anyone else would have been pleased.

But he didn’t feel like he had earned those grades.

That was only one of the many problems we had.

I was older, more experienced (possibly wiser, through I won’t claim it at the moment). Everything he could do, I had already done before, the gap between us must have seemed impossibly wide.

It was, more than he understood, but we were similar in a lot of ways too.

I don’t blame him for being terrified, I blame myself for letting things get to that point.

How did I work this out?

Honda had been a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, for all that we tried to carry on as normal.

Jonouchi found us in the library, Honda was watching that girl again, discreetly by appearing to work on his homework.

He was actually doodling, letting the ink tell its own story.

Little monsters decorated the page, I hoped it wasn’t a sign of things to come, when Jonouchi dropped in on us.

Honda flushed as Jonouchi teased him, and the crush came spilling out.

Suddenly something came clear. Ribbon. The girl was called Ribbon.

Honda was warning me away from his crush!

I felt gleeful.

Jonouchi threw an arm over Honda and dragged him out the school, Honda sulking at his revealed secret.

Oh dear. I thought, as Jonouchi spilled out the secret to Yugi within moments of learning in.

Honda glared, the burn of anger, fear and resentment bubbling down to me.

Then I almost laughed, a grudge? Honda thought Yugi could hold a grudge?

Miho Nosaka! That was her name, I couldn’t help the gleeful feeling, almost giggling at Jonouchi’s over the top explanation.

Boys! I thought, rolling in amusement, checking out a game store for a gift for a shy bookworm? What were they thinking?

Alright, the puzzle was kind of sweet. Pointless for Honda through, he was a useless letter writer, I had weeks of proof that he couldn’t write a letter to save his life.

I guess that must have filtered through, the next thing I knew Honda was half strangling Yugi, demanding the poor boy write something romantic.

Honda barely slept that night, tossing and turning. He started to write a dozen times, only to crumple up the attempts.

Jonouchi was amused when we met up that morning, and Yugi was waiting anxiously.

It was kind of fun to have Honda awake so early, even if he was on the edge of panic, I missed my peaceful morning but I suppose it couldn’t be helped, I had stolen an evening out of him before the festival.

Slipping the puzzle in Ribbon’s desk went off without a hitch, and Honda quietly panicked at his desk while Jonouchi and I took amusement in his anxiety and Yugi quietly hoped.

The teacher glided into the room, her moments controlled and graceful.

Warning bells started going off in my head, I could smell the coppery taste of blood and the dusty scent that meant freshly applied makeup.

I knew that control, someone was trying very hard not to lose her temper, and the smile on her face meant she knew exactly who she was going to take it out on.

Oh dear.

Inspection time.

Honda froze, guilt flooding in, and I slipped into place, gathering the few things we had stored in the desk.

Ms Chono almost skipped down the aisle when she saw Ribbon’s present, a gleeful expression on her face.

We were going to get expelled. I froze at the realisation. I hadn’t even realised that was an option. What sort of school had rules against dating? They were fifteen for heaven’s sake.

Honda pushed forward and took a stand.

Only Yugi had got there first. “I did it! I wrote that message!” He said.

Honda was floored.

“No! I put it in her desk Teach.” Jonouchi said, looking as cool as ice.

I was shocked at what happened next.

“It’s my message in that puzzle.” Honda stood tall and firm, ready to take his punishment.

Well, if nothing else the translation business is going well.

Ms Chono was confused, I don’t know why, there’s plenty of people willing to stand with their friends, was it that unusual? Maybe here, maybe now.

She decided to finish the puzzle, gloating over the fact the name would be found within.

Then I felt it, a flash, a chill down my spine, a power I had felt before.

Shadow Game.

The Pharaoh.

But what was he doing? How? Was he...

He was protecting Honda.

The sheer relief I felt made me giddy.

The makeup cracked, falling to pieces.

The other students laughed.

I felt the whip of magic, but this time there was no burns, no danger, no deaths.

I had survived.

Oh thank Ra.