Wishshipping

"Jonouchi... I love you..."

- Yugi to Jonouchi

Wishshipping is the slash ship between Katsuya Jonouchi and Yugi Mutou from the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom.

Manga
At lunch time at Domino High School, Yugi begins working on the disassembled Millennium Puzzle, which he considers to be his greatest treasure, when Jonouchi and his friend Hiroto Honda come and snatch the box containing the pieces of the puzzle. Jonouchi offers to give it back under the condition that Yugi punches him, claiming that he wants to teach Yugi how to be a man. Yugi refuses since he hates fighting and reacquires the box after Anzu Mazaki arrives and tells Jonouchi and Honda off for bullying Yugi. Jonouchi, however, managed to secretly steal a piece, which he later throws in the school pool. The next day, Tetsu Ushio, the hall monitor, shows Yugi that he beat Jonouchi and Honda up under the suspicion that they bully Yugi. Jonouchi initially thinks that Yugi asked Ushio to do this but when Yugi stands up for him and Honda, which results in Yugi also being beaten up, Jonouchi is shocked and wonders why Yugi is protecting them. Yugi's kindness causes Jonouchi to see Yugi differently and he starts to care for him. Jonouchi retrieves the piece of the puzzle from the pool and gives it to Sugoroku Mutou, Yugi's grandfather, to return to Yugi, although he asks Sugoroku not to tell Yugi that it was him who retrieved it. With it being the last piece, Yugi completes the puzzle and the 3000-year-old spirit of the pharaoh Atem, who was sealed in the puzzle, begins sharing Yugi's body. The next day at school, Yugi bumps into Jonouchi who asks him how he is doing, to which Yugi replies that he is fine. Jonouchi then says that like Yugi, he also owns a treasure and asks Yugi if he wants to see it. Yugi replies that he does but Jonouchi laughs and tells him that he cannot because it is "something you can show, but can't see". When Yugi is unable to guess what it is, Jonouchi says that the answer is friendship and he thanks Yugi for showing him that they are friends.

After Hirutani forces Jonouchi to rejoin his gang by threatening to hurt his classmates if he does not, Jonouchi misses a day of school for the first time, which Honda notices. Yugi, Honda and Anzu go look for him and spot him with Hirutani's gang, attacking a boy. Yugi runs over to Jonouchi and asks him why he is hanging out with these people but Jonouchi denies knowing Yugi. When Yugi begs Jonouchi to come back with them, one of the gang members punches Yugi in the face, telling him to shut up. Jonouchi does not react and leaves with the gang. After Honda tells Yugi and Anzu about Jonouchi's history with Hirutani and how Jonouchi never beat up weaker people even when he hung out with Hirutani, Yugi remembers that it was because of the Millennium Puzzle that he and Jonouchi became friends. He says that he believes in Jonouchi and refuses to accept that Jonouchi has changed. Honda agrees and they decide to go look for Jonouchi again. At J'z, Jonouchi punches the gang member who hit Yugi, telling him that there is no way he will let him get away with hitting his friend. The gang seizes Jonouchi and takes him to an abandoned warehouse, which Hirutani refers to as the torture chamber. Yugi, Honda and Anzu learn why Jonouchi is hanging out with Hirutani's gang and rush to J'z. They split up to look for Jonouchi but when Yugi is unable to find him, he clasps his Millennium Puzzle and asks it to tell him where Jonouchi is. Atem then takes control of Yugi's body and saves Jonouchi. He returns control to Yugi before Honda and Anzu arrive at the warehouse. When Jonouchi regains consciousness, he is relieved to see Yugi, who happily suggests that they go back.

At a later date, Hirutani, who still wants Jonouchi in his gang, has Nezumi lure Yugi and Jonouchi to the torture chamber, where he tells Jonouchi that he will do whatever it takes to get him to rejoin his gang. When Jonouchi refuses, Hirutani brings Jonouchi's attention to Yugi, who is now held captive by one of Hirutani's gangsters. Following Hirutani's order, the gangster links a hook to the rope of the Millennium Puzzle around Yugi's neck and pulls the hook upwards, dragging Yugi along with it and causing the rope to tighten around his neck. Hirutani threatens to let Yugi die if Jonouchi does not rejoin his gang. Despite this, Yugi hopes that Jonouchi will not do what Hirutani wants him to do. Although the gang attacks him with yo-yos, Jonouchi manages to get to where Yugi is and helps him down. Hirutani orders his gang to hit Jonouchi harder but Jonouchi states that the pain that he is experiencing now is nothing compared to the pain of betraying his friend. Hirutani gives Jonouchi one last chance to rejoin his gang but Yugi exclaims that Jonouchi will never do so, no matter how much Hirutani threatens him. Jonouchi agrees and tells Hirutani that that is what a real friend would say. As Hirutani orders his gang to kill Jonouchi and Yugi, Jonouchi borrows the Millennium Puzzle to defeat a number of the gangsters. Yugi then switches to Atem who handles the rest of the gang while Jonouchi faces and defeats Hirutani.

When Yugi is trapped in a room that catches fire, Jonouchi and Honda kick down the door but Yugi is unwilling to leave without the Millennium Puzzle, which Mr. Clown disassembled earlier. With the chain of the puzzle pinned to the table, Yugi cannot take the puzzle with him and decides to reassemble it so that he can see Atem one last time and apologize to him. Jonouchi tries to talk Yugi out of it but when he sees that Yugi is determined to solve the puzzle despite the growing fire, he tells the others to leave and that he will take care of Yugi. As Yugi reassembles the puzzle, Jonouchi internally tells Yugi that he will stay right here with him on the edge of the river that separates the land of the living from the realm of the dead but he will not let Yugi cross over and he will drag Yugi back if he gets too close to the other side even if he has to knock him out. Yugi manages to reassemble the puzzle but loses consciousness as he inserts the last piece. Jonouchi tries to carry Yugi out but cannot get him to let go of the puzzle. Jonouchi starts to cry and shouts at Yugi's unconscious form, telling him to let go of the puzzle and that they will die if they stay here. Jonouchi then uses the board of the Devil's Board Game as a lever to remove the pin holding the puzzle and rescues Yugi. As Yugi recovers at Domino City Hospital, he and Jonouchi often duel, with every duel ending in Jonouchi's loss, much to his annoyance.

During the Battle City tournament, when Jonouchi gets possessed by Marik Ishtar, Atem is forced to face him in a duel of life and death. They have their hands cuffed to an anchor, which is set to fall and drag them to the bottom of the ocean in 40 minutes. They each have a box at their feet containing a key to their handcuffs, which will open once they defeat their opponent. Yugi asks Atem to let him fight the duel instead, telling him that Jonouchi has always helped him and now it is his turn to help Jonouchi. Yugi manages to get through to Jonouchi who eventually overcomes Marik's control. Yugi then calls Jonouchi his best friend and tells him that he loves him before causing himself to lose the duel. As the anchor is about to pull them into the ocean, Yugi, before falling unconscious, tells Jonouchi to use the key in his box to save himself. However, Jonouchi gets Yugi's monster to attack him, making the duel a draw and unlocking Yugi's key. He says that he will not let Yugi die and grabs Yugi's key before they get pulled into the water and uses it to uncuff Yugi. While Mokuba Kaiba pulls Yugi out of the water, Seto Kaiba drops Jonouchi's key into the water, enabling Jonouchi to free himself. Jonouchi then apologizes to Yugi but Yugi tells him not to blame himself.

Fanon
Fans have noted that although Jonouchi and Yugi started as bully and victim, this dynamic did not carry on when they became friends. They were loyal to each other and each proved that they were willing to risk their own lives and die for the other. While Jonouchi taught Yugi courage, Yugi made Jonouchi become a better person.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * Kazuki Takahashi, the author of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga based their names – Yūgi and Jōnouchi – on the word yūjō (友情), which means "friendship" in Japanese.
 * The pairing is named so because Yugi's wish when he was solving the Millennium Puzzle was to have true friends and Jonouchi retrieved the final piece of the puzzle for Yugi and became his best friend, fulfilling Yugi's wish.