A/N: Another random-ass oneshot. Cool!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plots and OC's.
screaming in your head
au yugi + atemu
rated r
Yugi stands on the edge of the pool and there's a voice sitting in the back of his head -
you gonna jump?
He doesn't know the answer, only the next step.
One foot leaves the edge and lingers briefly over the water. The last thought in his head (the last whisper) before he goes under is always. i always jump.
Six months earlier, and he doesn't know what he's doing.
There's a map in his hand and a bus ticket he bought the day before in his back pocket. Domino City is far off and his backpack is heavy with things he should have just left behind.
He doesn't regret anything when he dumps its contents in a garbage can and leaves the bag in a dumpster. There's two thousand yen in his pocket (he knows it isn't enough) but there's a wish and a little bit of a dream living in his chest and he thinks he might be able to do something with it.
"Watch yourself," everyone seems to say.
He wants to scream (i know, i know, i know, i just don't know anything else) and he wants to push someone into the street, just to feel stronger than everyone, if only for a second.
Twenty and already feeling murderous. Can't be good.
There's a noodle shop with a help wanted sign hanging loosely on the window and he manages to haggle a job and a sleeping arrangement. He spends all his money on lunch and a uniform, but there's a bed underneath him tonight and that's the important thing, he figures.
Yugi's always been good at prioritizing.
Atemu comes into the shop every Thursday and as scarlet eyes and a come-hither smile, but Yugi won't let himself be sucked in, not by this character.
Of course, he was doomed from the start, so it's no wonder they end up fucking a few months later.
The tiny mattress above the shop creaks something awful and each time they're in it, Yugi says a silent prayer, thankful he's the only one in the building.
When he comes, Atemu smiles because he's gotten what he wants.
"My turn," he always says.
"Tell me about this one." Atemu likes to count Yugi's childhood scars.
a bike wreck, a nail, a cactus, a dog bite
"You're a story, Yugi Mutou. Something for me to read." His teeth graze the pale collarbone beneath him and Yugi's cheeks flush.
"Someday," he manages. "I'll read you."
Atemu just laughs - someday is an imaginary place.
i won't be here for that is what he's really saying.
When homesick becomes an everyday feeling, Yugi cuts his ties.
Atemu frowns at the bus stop and waits with him, but he can't really feel bad.
"You were the one who said someday would never come."
"Today isn't someday. Today is tomorrow. You were supposed to be here then." (they were never good at making sense. just noise.)
"Going to kiss me goodbye?" Atemu shakes his head and Yugi just shrugs. He misses his friends and the game shop. Atemu doesn't fit into that part of his life. "Will you be here for a while?"
"No," Atemu says curtly. "I'm moving to Europe in the spring with my brother." Yugi never knew he had a brother, but he never knew about Europe either. He takes this information as fact, even thought the likelihood of it all being an enormous lie is greater.
"Send me a postcard."
Atemu laughs and Yugi bitterly thinks he always gets the last one, doesn't he?
He surfaces from the bottom of the pool and the water breaks cleanly over his head.
you gonna do it again? the voice whispers.
Yugi pushes the memory of Atemu away and floats on his back for a while.
Anzu calls him out for lunch and he slips on a pair of dark sunglasses before dressing.
no, he thinks. not again.
Atemu gets the last laugh, but Yugi's the one with all the luck.
He smiles and tosses his towel over his shoulder.
always. i always jump.