Fun and Games

by KrazyJoey

You know what they say; it's all fun and games….Until someone gets shot. The gang goes on summer vacation to the beach. They have a lot of fun, and get into some trouble, and a certain Pharaoh and blonde develop feelings that are more than friendship for each other. Dragonshipping

Fun and Games

Series: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Characters: Yami, Joey, Yugi, Tristan, Téa, and Ryo Bakura

Warnings: BoyxBoy relationships, violence, and this story is also freaking long

Pairing: Dragonshipping (JoeyxYami)

Summary: You know what they say; it's all fun and games….Until someone gets shot. The gang goes on summer vacation to the beach. They have a lot of fun, and get into some trouble, and a certain Pharaoh and blonde develop feelings that are more than friendship for each other.

….

It was summer vacation and the gang was going on a trip to the Shirarahama beach in Wakayama prefecture. They had taken a plane and were now arriving at the beach via bus. Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Bakura were very excited about it all. Yugi was a little more reserved.

Sure, he was happy to go on a trip and have fun with his friends, but he was worried. Not about himself, while he couldn't really swim he doubted that he'd drown with all his friends around to save him. No he was worried about Joey. While Joey appeared cheerful and carefree, along the way to the beach Yugi had caught glimpses of a different story. While he tried to hide it, Yugi could see that there was a kind of sadness to his friend's eyes when he thought no one was looking. Yugi had also noticed that Joey was limping slightly and had from time to time held onto his back and winced. There was definitely something else going on. Yugi knew that Joey got into fights with people on a regular basis, but when that happened he shrugged it off or got angry. He didn't look sad like he did now.

Yugi was shaken from his thoughts by the bus stopping at their destination. They had rented some small cabins that were near the ocean and he could see them now. Each one was for two people and they had gotten three of them. Joey and Yugi claimed one of them, Tristan and Bakura another, and Téa had the third one to herself.

After putting their bags in the cabins, Joey and Tristan immediately ran for the beach. They had a race to the water and the three that stayed behind watched them as they pushed each other to get there first. Téa, Yugi, and Bakura were less inclined to get involved.

They had brought along some food to prepare while they were there. They did plan to go to some of the many restaurants around the area, but it would be much cheaper if they made some of the meals themselves. They decided to keep the food supplies in Téa's cabin. Partly because she had more room, and partly so Bakura and Tristan wouldn't eat it.

The little cabins each had a small stove, some cupboards, and a refrigerator. They stowed the food in either the Frig or the cupboards, depending on if the item needed to be refrigerated. It was late afternoon and they were all hungry and tired from the trip. Téa brought out the things to make hot dogs and starting to make them. Just as she was finishing Joey and Tristan came back.

They were soaking wet, as was to be expected, but they also looked kinda embarrassed. "Just in time, we were going to start without you. And you know Bakura, he would have eaten everything." Téa noticed their expressions and asked, "And why do you both look like you ate canaries?"

"It's all Joey's fault," Tristan started.

"No! It's Tristan's fault, he started it," the two boys glared at each other. While they were both friends, they tended to get into arguments. It was probably a good idea that they were in different cabins or they'd have to listen to this all night.

"Start from the beginning," Téa said, opening a jar of pickle relish.

"Well, uh," Joey began.

"The lifeguard yelled at us and kicked us off the beach for being 'disruptive,'" Tristan blurted out.

"Sounds like you deserved it. I saw you two running around over there screaming. Now eat before Bakura eats it all," Téa said.

Bakura had already started eating and had devoured two hot dogs already. He didn't look like he could, but the little guy could really pack it in. Joey and Tristan took this as a challenge to all things manly and started to eat as fast as they could.

Téa just signed. "This food isn't going to last us very long, is it, Yugi?"

"Not with three pigs around." Neither Yugi nor Téa ate all that much and just watching the three boys was making them a little sick.

After they had finished eating, Joey and Tristan both went to their cabins and promptly fell asleep. Yugi went into his and Joey's cabin after helping Téa put away the food, or what was left of it after the ravenous teenage boys had got to it.

Yugi found Joey sprawled out on his stomach on the bottom bed of the bunk bed in the cabin. The blonde had changed out of his wet swimming trunks and was now wearing a pair of blue jeans. And nothing else, he hadn't bothered to put a shirt on.

Yugi walked closer. From a distance he hadn't seen it, but now that he was closer he could see that Joey's back was covered in scars. In all the mayhem of the meal he had never had the chance to see it properly. Some of the scars were years old, others looked new; very new in fact, maybe only a day or two old. They had scabbed over but were still red.

Yugi was about to step back when Yami came into his consciousness and took over his body. Yami stepped forward and knelt down beside the bed. He reached out a hand and slowly ran it the length of Joey's back. Joey sat up with a start, narrowly missing hitting his head on the top of the bed.

The sudden movement startled Yami and he fell back and landed on his behind. "Huh, wha? What's going on? Why ya down there, Yugi?" Joey said in confusion. He had only been asleep for a few minutes but was already disoriented.

Yami stayed on the floor, staring with wide violet eyes up at Joey who had stood up and was now towering over him. He really wanted to ask about the scars on his friend's back, but was afraid too; afraid that it might tear them apart somehow. He had a sneaking suspicion about how he had gotten them, but he couldn't be sure until he asked.

"Just seeing how the floor feels," Yami replied quite lamely to Joey's question. Joey was still half asleep so he didn't notice. Yami stood up, not sure what to do next.

Joey suddenly got self-conscious about his lack of a shirt and put one on. It wasn't his usual t-shirt but a button-up red plaid shirt that Yami had never seen him wear before. "How about we head on down to the beach? I bet there are less people out there now and it's really quite nice. It's white sand too." Joey slipped on a pair of flip-flops and headed for the door. Before opening it he looked down at Yami's feet. "I suggest ya don't wear those boots."

Yami looked down at his feet. He was wearing a pair of black leather boots. He found them quite comfortable and didn't see what the problem was. He also hadn't seen why he couldn't bring along his leather pants. Joey had caught him packing and had told him that he shouldn't bring them to the beach. He had given in and was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt at the moment. "And why not?"

"Yous don't want them to get all wet and full of sand, right?" Joey went with those reasons over the fact they it would look stupid to wear boots on a beach.

Yami took the boots off along with his socks and was left in bare feet. "I don't have any other shoes."

"None at all? Not even flip-flops?" Joey shook his head. "You came to the beach without flip-flops. Well you can walk on the beach without them. They are really strict about no glass on the beach so it shoulds be fine." He opened the door and stepped out. "We can visit a shop tomorrow and buy you a pair."

Yami followed him out and the two boys made their way down to the beach. Joey had been right, the beach was almost deserted. Only a few people were left, and most of them were packing up to leave. It was starting to get dark and the sun was slowly becoming a red half-circle over the water.

"It really is beautiful, isn't it?" Joey commented, gazing out at the water. The rays of the setting sun reflected off of it and it sparkled. "The last time I saw the ocean like this is when I was a little kid and I took Serenity to see the ocean." He smiled at the memory.

Yami didn't really know what to say. Sometimes he had no idea what to say to people, what the right things to say were. So he stayed quiet. Only when it came to games did he always know what to say. He really didn't want to break the silence either. It was somehow calming, just standing there with Joey, looking out at the sea. He looked up at Joey's face, wondering if this would be a good time to ask about the scars on his back. But seeing how happy and contented the blonde looked he just couldn't bring himself to shatter the moment with such a question.

So instead he sat down on the sand, close enough to the water so that when it rippled in it washed over his feet. Joey sat down next to him, removing his flip-flops. He sat closer to Yami than most male friends would normally sit next to each other. Their shoulders almost touched and Yami wasn't sure whether he wanted to move a little closer towards or away from Joey.

Yami yawned. It had been a long day and the trip had made him tired. Without thinking about it he leaned towards Joey and rested his head on the taller boy's shoulder. He dozed off for a few minutes. Joey didn't interrupt; just silently watched Yugi's other-self sleep. It was only now that he realized that it was Yami, and not Yugi. He found it somehow endearing that the tough-acting Pharaoh was asleep on his shoulder.

Joey couldn't help from chuckling at how funny he thought it was and the sound woke up Yami. The spikey-haired boy slipped off Joey's shoulder and landed with an undignified "oof" in Joey's lap. Yami blushed profusely and jumped up. "I, um, uh," he stammered.

Joey was now in stitches laughing at how funny this all was. "You should see your face, it's all red! Bahhaa!"

"I am glad that you think this is all so amusing," Yami glared at him and sat back down next to him, this time making sure at least a foot's distance was between them.

"Sorry, I dunno, it's late and I'll laugh at anything. I'm tired too; we should head back to the cabin and get some shut eye." Joey stood up and brushed the sand from his bottom.

Yami stayed on the sand. He had no energy left and didn't feel like getting up. Joey stared down at him a moment then said, "You still mad at me? Come on; forgive a guy for laughing when it's late and we're both tired."

Yami signed and lifted a hand up. "Help me up. I feel very old all of a sudden."

"Several thousands of years old?" Joey laughed at his own joke.

Yami didn't laugh but just took Joey's offered hand and used it to pull himself up. He pulled too hard and ended up smacking into Joey's chest. He felt like he was going to die from how embarrassing things were turning out this evening. Joey did something surprising then, he pulled Yami into a hug. "You really do need some sleep, hmm?"

Yami looked up, still blushing, and noticed how close their faces were. For a second he thought Joey was going to pull him even closer and kiss him, but he didn't. Joey let him go and then patted him on the back. "Let's head on back to the cabin now. I'm hungry. Wonder if Téa would be willing to give me some food."

Yami was still recovering from the near kiss and stayed where he was for a moment before following Joey. Joey had obviously not noticed how intimate the moment had gotten. Yami was a little worried; for a moment there he had wanted Joey to kiss him. He couldn't explain it, he just had. He shook his head to clear it. That couldn't be the case, could it?

Back at the cabin Yami watched as Joey changed into what he slept in, which was his underwear. Yami tried to look away but couldn't help staring. "You want the top or the bottom?" Joey asked him.

Yami nearly died again from the blood rushing to his face. "Excuse me?" His mind had automatically gone to the all the wrong places.

"It's a bunk bed; you want the top bunk or the bottom bunk?" Joey didn't see what was so confusing about it.

"Oh, right. The bottom, I do not want to fall out during the night." Yami began to strip. He felt self-conscious with Joey in the room but was trying to gain back some dignity after all the embarrassing things he had done already that night so he tried to be cool about it and just did it without complaining.

As he was buttoning up his pajama shirt he glanced up at Joey and saw that he hadn't even been watching. He had climbed into the top bunk and was already asleep with his back turned to Yami. Yami felt somehow disappointed that he hadn't even looked. He took off the collar he had been wearing around his neck and set it on top of his clothes bag. He then turned off the light and slipped into bed, managing to bonk his head on the top of the bunk bed before getting inside.

….

The next day Yami woke up before Joey, grabbed a towel, and went to go look for a shower. He found one and started to take one. Yugi popped into his head. 'So do you have a crush on Joey or what?'

Yami nearly dropped the bar of soup he was washing himself with. 'No, I do not!'

The answer came much too fast and strong. 'I think you do. With the way you keep staring at him and blushing. It's kinda obvious.'

Yami had forgotten that Yugi could see everything that he did, and read his thoughts too. 'I, I, I really do not know. I do not think that I do, but maybe…' he trailed off. He really didn't know what he felt. He was just very confused about it all. Any further thoughts were interrupted when voices came from outside the shower.

"What do you mean there's only one shower? Isn't there at least one for the boys and one for the girls?" Téa's voice came from right outside the shower.

"There really is only one shower; this one here. We'll just have to take turns." That was Tristan's voice.

"It's too early in the morning to be arguing, guys," Bakura yawned.

"Who's in here, anyway?" Tristan asked, reaching to pull the curtain back.

Yami grabbed the curtain and held it in place. "That would be me. And I would rather you did not open the curtain and show my nude body to the world."

"Oh, oops, sorry, man, didn't know it was you," Tristan apologized.

Yami had been done with his shower anyway and pulled his towel off the wall and wrapped it around his waist. He opened the curtain and stepped out. His hair had been weighed down by the water and now lay flat and fell down his shoulders. It made him look pretty strange and none of the gang had seen him like that before.

"Why am I strangely attracted to his hair like that?" Bakura blurted out.

"It does look quite, different," commented Téa.

"It makes him look shorter," said Tristan.

"Oh shut up," Yami laughingly scolded them and headed back to the cabin. Before he was out of earshot he heard Téa claim the shower first.

Once back at the cabin he took the towel off and used it to dry his hair, even now it was starting to stand back up. "Not what I was expecting to see first thing in the morning." Joey, with blinking eyes and tousled hair, was looking at Yami from where he lay on the top bunk.

Yami immediately covered himself with his towel and, for seemingly the thousandth time that trip, blushed profusely. "And why are you looking?" he shouted angrily.

"I can't really help it. I just opened my eyes, I had no idea that you woulds be down there in the buff." Joey blinked some more then turned over and dozed off.

Yami couldn't argue with that logic and just shrugged it off and got dressed. This time he put on swimming trunks and a t-shirt. He planned to go swimming later. 'Morning, Yugi, you ready to be less obnoxious now?' he said to Yugi as he held the Millennium Puzzle. He had been wearing it in the shower earlier and the rope attached to it was now wet.

'Hey, I was just curious. You just….yeah. I'm kinda weirded out that you seem to have a crush on my best friend.'

'But I do not,' Yami wasn't sure he wasn't in denial, but he didn't think he had a crush on Joey. He had never had a crush on anyone, never even thought anyone was attractive. He was much more interested in playing games and finding out who he was.

'Do you want your body back now, Yugi? I have been keeping it all to myself for some time now.' Truthfully he hoped that by going back inside the Puzzle all the embarrassing things that kept happening would stop.

'Nah, you've never been to the beach before and I have. I want you to have fun and see what it's like. Though I'm still worried about Joey; he acts fine, but those scars,' Yugi had noticed them first but now Yami wanted to find out too.

'I wish to know what the story is behind them as well, Yugi,' Yami set the puzzle down on his clothes bag.

'What are you doing? Are you leaving me here?' Yugi wasn't sure he liked the sound of Yami doing that.

'If I am to go swimming there is no reason to bring the Puzzle. In fact, it would be a bad idea to bring it because the likelihood of losing it in the water is high.'

'I see your point, but I'll be lonely here by myself.'

Yami was feeling a bit spiteful because of Yugi's earlier comments on him having a crush on Joey, and shoved a pair of jeans on top of the Puzzle and left it there. He'd talk to Yugi after he got this all sorted out. Even though for as long as he could remember, which admittedly was only as long as Yugi had solved the Millennium Puzzle, he had had Yugi's voice in his head to talk to. Now he felt the need to be by himself for once. He was sure that Yugi would understand.

Yami looked up at the lump that was Joey on the top bunk. "Are you going to spend our entire vacation sleeping or are you going to get up?"

Joey muttered something then sat up. "I'm up, I'm up. Stop nagging at me." He climbed down the ladder and pulled on a pair of jeans.

"Are not we going swimming today?" Yami asked.

"Oh? Oh yeah, we were." He pulled the jeans, along with his underwear, off and then put on his trunks. He found a t-shirt in his bag and put that on as well.

Yami was trying very hard not to look when Joey changed, but it was difficult to do when he just did it right in front of him. He signed and then pulled a brochure out of his bag. "I want to go here." He was holding up an advertisement for a Duel Monsters dueling tournament event. It was informal and meant for just amateurs who wanted to meet other duelists and have fun.

"Duel Monsters? Hell yeah, I'm there! Lemme get my deck." He rummaged in his bag and came out with his deck. He tucked it in the right-hand pocket of his trunks. They had large cargo-pant-like pockets on them with snap buttons.

Yami found his own deck and went to put it in his pocket but found that the pair of trunks that Yugi had bought last week lacked pockets. "Could you carry mine for me? I have no pockets."

"Sure!" Joey put the deck into his left-hand pocket. "Do you think we should bring our Duel Disks? I completely forgot to bring mine."

"I do not think we will need them. Duel Disks are new enough that most amateurs will not have them. It will most likely just be duels on tables anyway." Yami had brought his along, folded at the bottom of his bag, but if Joey didn't have his he didn't want to make him look bad by bringing it.

"So let's go!" Joey slipped on his flip-flops and nearly galloped out the door. "But first," he slowed down so Yami could catch up, "We need to get you some footwear."

They walked into the nearby town and stopped at a small shop that sold beach equipment, which included flip-flops. They bought Yami a pair and went to the next order of business; breakfast. Not until they got into town did Joey's stomach start growling and remind him that he hadn't eaten since late afternoon the previous day. Joey found a ramen restaurant. "I want to eat there!"

"Ramen? For breakfast?" Yami didn't know if that was the way it worked.

"Why not? Who cares what time of day it is, I wanna eat it!" He happily trotted into the restaurant.

"Hmm, what to get." Joey looked over the menu. They had all kinds of things he could put on his ramen; eggs, pork, kamaboko, the list went on and on. He finally decided to put all three, pork, eggs, and kamaboko, in his ramen and ordered.

Yami just got plain ramen. Joey laughed at him for being so boring, but he really hadn't known what to put in it. He haven't eaten very often before, it was Yugi who did the eating. Yami picked up the chopsticks when his ramen came and poked at the noodles. He looked at it suspiciously, like it was going to poke back or something. "How do you eat this?"

"You've never eaten ramen before?" Joey seemed astonished.

"I have not eaten much of anything before, Joey." At least he did know how to use chopsticks. Yugi knew how so he did too.

Joey was about to question that statement when he thought that it was true; Yami was usually inside the Puzzle, except when it came to dueling, so it was Yugi who did most of the eating. "Just pick up the noodles and eat them. Careful, it's hot."

Yami figured out how to eat the ramen and slowly finished his. Joey wolfed his down and was left waiting for the Pharaoh to finish his. "Ah, come on, can't ya eat any faster?"

"Unlike you, I like to enjoy my food." Plus he was enjoying annoying Joey just a little. He finally finished and stood up. "Duel Monsters?"

"Yes, Duel Monsters. Let's find that tournament!" They wondered around for a while before realizing that there was a map and address on the advertisement that they could use to get to the club.

Once inside they found people playing Duel Monsters. As Yami had suspected, they were all just on tables. Most of the people were boys, with a few girls here and there. And most of them were about ten-years-old.

"Not really whats I was expecting…" Joey sounded disappointed.

"It is just for fun. Maybe dueling with children will be fun." Yami had been expecting more as well. He wasn't sure he wanted to duel the kids because he'd wipe the floor with them and upset them.

"Well, I guess. I bet I coulds beat these little brats easy." Joey went up to the first table that had someone at it who wasn't dueling at the moment. "Hey, kid, I challenge you to a duel."

The boy he had challenged looked to be about ten, like most of the kids in there, and had brown hair and eyes. He also looked a bit irritated at being addressed in such a manner. "I have a name you know. And aren't you a little old to be in here?"

"I am not old. Geeze, just because everyone in here is a snot-nosed brat doesn't make me old!" He glared right back at the kid.

"What if I don't want to duel you, Old Man?" The kid was just being a brat now.

"Ya chicken?" Joey smirked, worked every time. Called them scared and they'd fall over themselves to prove you wrong.

"No! I'll duel you, stupid Old Man, but be prepared to get drowned by my water deck!" He stood up, pulling out his deck. It was now that he noticed Yami standing quietly behind Joey. "Hey, you're, you're Yugi Moto, the King of Games, aren't you?" He ran up to Yami, staring up at him with wide, sparkling eyes. "You're my hero. I want to duel you, not that stupid blonde guy."

"But you already accepted Joey's challenge. It would not be honorable to ignore it." Yami winked. "I will duel you if you can beat Joey."

"Okay!" The boy was still staring with wide eyes at Yami. He left Yami and went back to the table, where Joey was shuffling his deck.

"I am so creaming you, Old Man!" He shuffled his deck and drew five cards from the top. "I'll start." He drew one more card. "I'll start off by summoning Abyss Soldier in attack position!" He slapped down what looked like a hump-backed whale with arms and legs holding a trident.

"Ha! A fish, just what I expected from you." He had, after all, said he had a water deck.

"Actually, whales are mammals, not fish. And with 1800 attack points this whale is going to kick your butt." He didn't do anything else and ended his turn.

"Heh, I can beat that sorry fish, erm, whale." Joey looked at his hand. He had Scapegoat, Baby Dragon, Time Wizard, Lava Battleguard, and Shield & Sword. He drew another card from his deck; Polymerization.

Yami came up behind him and looked at his hand. "You know with those three cards you could summon…"

"Shh, I got this." Joey didn't want the kid to think he was cheating by getting help from the King of Games. He set Baby Dragon in face down defense position, and set Scapegoat as well.

"You really should have…" Yami tried to say.

"I got this, don't worry."

Yami didn't think he got it at all. Joey had Baby Dragon, Time Wizard, and Polymerization. He could have just used them right then and there to Fusion Summon Thousand Dragon. Joey could sometimes not be the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Ha, that's all you're going to do, Old Man?" The kid drew a card. "Perfect," he played the Field Spell A Legendary Ocean. "With this card on the field all Water monsters gain 200 attack and defense points and their level is lowered by one. Which means," he summon a monster in attack position, "I can summon Divine Dragon Aquabizarre, which is normally a level 5 monster but is now a level 4, without a Tribute." He slapped the card down dramatically. "And its 2100 attack points are upped to 2300! Also, my Abyss Soldier now has 2000 attack points. I attack your face down monster with it!"

Baby Dragon was destroyed and now Joey's Monster card zone was empty. "And now I attack you directly with my divine dragon!"

Joey gulped. The kid had some formidable monsters on his field now and there was nothing he could do about it. Well, there was one thing. "I activate Scapegoat!" He pulled four sheep token cards from his extra deck and placed them in defense position on his field. The kid's monster destroyed one of them but Joey's Life Points were safe.

Joey drew and got Salamandra. He signed; the card was useless to him right now because he had no Fire monsters in his hand. He set Lava Battleguard in face down defense position and ended his turn.

"Ha! That's all you're going to do? Defend? You're not going to attack at all?" The kid smirked at him. He drew and summoned Shocktopus in attack position. Its 1600 attack points were upped to 1800. "I attack two of your Scapegoats and your face down monster!" He attacked the Scapegoats with his two weaker monsters and the face down with his Divine Dragon Aquabizarre, clearing Joey's field except for one little Scapegoat.

Joey glared at the kid. Defending was all he could do right now. Well, now he was all out of monsters to summon, except for Time Wizard, so he couldn't even do that anymore. This duel wasn't going well for him at all. It all depended on what he drew next. He reached out and took the top card from his deck; it was Red-Eyes Black Dragon. A thrill ran through him for a second, then he remembered that he had nothing to use as a Tribute to summon it; Scapegoats couldn't be used as Tributes. He summoned Time Wizard in face down defense position as a last resort. He wasn't really thinking and didn't think to use its special ability.

The kid destroyed Joey's Time Wizard and last Scapegoat with his Shocktopus and Abyss Soldier and hit Joey with 2300 points of direct damage with his Divine Dragon Aquabizarre. Joey's Life Points plummeted down to 1700.

Joey drew one last card, but it was useless and couldn't save him. "You win, kid. I can't summon or set anything at all." He might as well just admit defeat right now. With not being able to summon or set anything to defend himself, the kid would knock out all of his remaining 1700 Life Points in one turn; he could even do it with his weakest monster.

"All right! You suck, Old Man. You didn't even attack or make me lose any of my Life Points at all!" He put all of his cards back in his deck and shuffled it. "Now I get to duel Yugi!" He looked over at Yami.

Yami had been standing behind Joey doing his best not to comment on how Joey could have summoned Thousand Dragon on his first turn. With 2400 attack points the dragon would have been able to take down any one of the monsters that the boy had summoned. He also could have used Time Wizard's special ability and had a chance at turning the tables. He wondered if he should tell Joey this or just leave him in the dark about it. Seeing how pissed off Joey looked he decided not to tell him how stupid he had been. "All right, you did beat him so I will duel you."

The duel lasted a lot longer than Yami had thought it would. The kid showed that he did have quite a bit of skill and stood up to Yami quite admirably. Yami praised him on how good he was and gave him some pointers. Yami still beat him, of course.

"I don't even care that I lost, I dueled Yugi Moto, the King of Games!" The kid was practically bouncing up and down in his excitement. "I have to go tell my friends right now!" He ran off.

"Damn brat," Joey muttered. He was still sore about losing to a ten-year-old.

"Maybe we can go get some ice cream, would that cheer you up?" Yami didn't want Joey to mope about all day.

"Ice cream! Okay!" Joey grinned. His stomach did always seem to win over his brain.

They left the dueling tournament, such as it was, and found a shop that was selling ice cream cones. They only had soft-serve vanilla but that was fine with them. They got their cones and walked down the quiet streets of the town, enjoying the moment.

"Hey, there they are!" The rest of the gang was walking down the street as well and they had spotted the two boys.

"Hi guys!" Joey waved at them with his free hand.

"Hey, where did you find ice cream?" Tristan asked.

"And what were you two doing, running off by yourselves?" Téa asked.

"We went to a Duel Monsters tournament. Joey got his butt kicked by a ten-year-old." Yami said matter-of-factly.

"Hey! Don't tell everyone that!" Joey complained.

"Not all that surprising," Téa said, "Even I can beat him and I barely play."

"Hey, my hand sucked…" Joey came up with an excuse.

Yami decided to keep his mouth shut about Joey being an idiot during the duel. "There is an ice cream shop just down the street," he pointed in its direction, answering Tristan's earlier question.

"Aw right, ice cream here I come!" Tristan trotted off towards the shop, Bakura followed him.

Once Tristan and Bakura came back with their ice cream the five friends walked down the streets of the town, exploring. "Oh look, guys, there's a shop that sells stones!" Téa was interesting in seeing what was inside so she led the way. There was a no food or drink sign on the door so Tristan and Bakura had to stay outside with their half-eaten cones. Joey and Yami had already finished theirs so they could go in.

The shop had all kinds of stones in it, big ones, little ones, shiny ones, and rough ones. Neither Téa nor Yami found anything they really wanted to buy, but Joey found something he wanted. Once outside the store he held out a small bag full of stones that he had bought. "Hey guys, I gots something for each of us."

He pulled five stones out of the bag, handing one to each of them, keeping the last one for himself. The stone were all different sizes and colors. He gave a light pink one to Téa, a purple one to Yami, a light blue one to Bakura, a chocolate brown one to Tristan, and kept a yellow one for himself. "Now we can alls, ya know, rock!" He held out his stone. It took everyone a bit to catch on to what he was doing, but they finally got it and they all raised their stones and clunked them together.

"Why does this feel incredibly girly?" Tristan grumbled.

"Shaddup, friendship is cool." Joey glared at him.

….

Later that day the gang went swimming. Yami and Joey left their decks and stones in their cabin. Joey stripped off his t-shirt and ran outside. Yami took his shirt off as well but followed more sedately. Tristan and Bakura challenged Joey to a game of volley ball and the three boys ran off to a volley ball net on the beach. Yami didn't feel like joining them and stayed back at the cabins, waiting for Téa to come out of her cabin.

She finally did, wearing a blue one-piece swimsuit with roses on it. Yami knew that right now Yugi would be ogling her but he himself didn't really see what the big deal was. He found that he kept watching the three boys playing volley ball. Well, he kept watching Joey. He couldn't help staring at him as he moved, trying, and failing, to stand up to the throws of both Bakura and Tristan. "It is not a little unfair?"

"Huh, what's unfair?" Téa didn't get what he was talking about. She had had a crush on Yami for the longest time but he had never given her the time of day and showed no interest in her at all other than as a friend. He hadn't even looked at her for more a glance when she came out in her swimsuit. She felt a little disappointed but didn't see the point in pursuing it if he wasn't going to even show a spark of interest. She wondered if he might be gay. Though just because he showed no interest in her, didn't really prove that he was. Though she was getting a little suspicious; she had noticed him staring at Joey a lot of late.

"Is it not unfair that they are playing two against one?" Yami had been talking about the game the three boys were playing.

"Oh yeah, I guess it kinda is." Téa wondered if she should ask Yami about his seeming infatuation with their blonde friend. Probably better not to until she had more proof. She'd keep an eye on the both of them.

Yami stood up and the two of them headed down the beach to join the rest of their friends. By the time they got there Joey had lost several games and was yelling at Tristan and Bakura about how unfair it was. Téa and Yami offered to join his side and have a rematch. Tristan and Bakura tried to argue that three against two wasn't fair but they ignored them and utterly defeated the two boys.

After the volley ball game they finally went swimming. Everyone else drove right in and swam around but Yami held back. He didn't want to admit it but he couldn't swim.

"Hey, Yami, come on in! The water's fine," Joey called to him.

"I do not know, I think I will just stay over here." He sat down on the beach, digging his toes into the white sand.

"Ah, come on, man, it'll be fun." Joey come out of the water and plopped down next to him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, it is just," he looked away, blushing slightly, "I do not know how to swim."

"Oh is that all? I can teach ya!" Joey grabbed Yami's hand and pulled him into the water.

Yami followed, not having much choice. "What do I do?"

Joey took them out until Yami was chest-deep in the water. "Before you learn to swim you needs to learn to float. Try it, like this," Joey lay back in the water, staying still and letting himself float.

"That is amazing, I did not know that you could do that," Yami had always thought that people sunk in water.

"Don't let him trick you, Yami, he's the only one of us who can just float like that with no effort," Tristan told him, while he splashed Bakura.

"Hey, you just have to lets the water hold you, it's easy," Joey seemed a tad annoyed that no one else could do it and thought he was showing off.

Yami tried it, and ended up going under. He kicked and flailed his arms and come up sputtering. "It is impossible!" While he was under he had felt something brush against his leg. It had alarmed him but he thought it must have just been a piece of seaweed or something.

"Maybe we should try something else. How about this," Joey held out his hands and Yami took them. "Now I'll hold you up while you kick your legs."

Yami tried it and found himself keeping afloat. "Now let's try farther out." Joey stepped out farther until the water was up to his shoulders. "Now try to swim by yourself." He let Yami go.

For a moment Yami stayed afloat, but then he panicked and went under. Joey had forgotten how much shorter Yami was than he and had gone out into the water far enough that the water was over Yami's head. Yami struggled to keep his head out of the water but failed. He again felt something against his leg. The touch was more substantial than before and he thought it might be Joey. But whatever it was wrapped around his leg and pulled him under further. He kicked at it with his free leg but it wouldn't let go. He gasped for breath, but couldn't find any in the rolling waves. With one last kick he blacked out.

The next thing Yami knew a pair of lips was pressed against his, trying to force air back into his lungs. They felt nice and Yami found himself leaning into them, returning the kiss. He opened his eyes to find Joey leaning over him. "Thank God, he woke up!"

Yami rolled over and coughed up a large amount of water. So it hadn't been a kiss, but mouth to mouth resuscitation. He was on the beach now, a group of people gathered around. "What pulled me down?"

"Judging from the suction marks on your leg it was an octopus; a very large one. Tristan tried to catch it but it got away." Joey ran a hand down Yami's leg, looking for damage. "I don't see any permanent damage. I'm really sorry about that, bringing you out too far and then not saving you before that thing dragged you under."

Yami felt a tingle run up his spine from Joey feeling his leg up. Maybe he really did have a crush on the blonde boy. And that kiss, even if it wasn't meant as such, he had liked it. "It is okay, Joey, I am fine." The octopus hadn't done any real damage and neither had being underwater. Though he felt very tired right now and wanted to get all the sand that was sticking to his wet body off.

"I'd better take you back to the cabin; you need to take it easy after all that." Joey picked Yami up and carried him back to the cabin. The rest of the gang hung back, they were glad that Yami was okay but they didn't know what to do now. They decided to just let Joey take care of it.

At the cabin Joey took Yami inside. He was treating Yami like he was helpless and doing everything for him and so he toweled him off to get the wet sand off of him then set him on the bottom bunk of the bed. "I'm sorry," Joey apologized again.

"It was not your fault, Joey. You were just trying to help and things happened." Yami saw no reason for Joey to blame himself for something that no one could control.

"Yeah, okay. What now?" Joey made to get up from the bed. He had sat down next to Yami after setting him down.

Yami suddenly grabbed Joey and pulled him back down on the bed. They stared into each other's eyes, both surprised. Yami couldn't quite explain why he had done it. But it was now or never. He kissed Joey, right on the lips, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him closer. Yami ran his hands over Joey's toned chest, moving down towards his trunks.

Joey pulled back and gasped for breath. "What the hell are you doing, Yami?"

"Joey, I-" Yami held Joey on the bed, keeping him from running away. "I love you, Joey. It has taken me a long time to realize it, but I do." His expression was so open and sincere that Joey couldn't look away.

"Yami, I-" Yami didn't let him finish what he was saying and kissed him again. This time Joey returned it, climbing on top of Yami to get a better position. They kissed for some minutes, not saying anything, just enjoying each other. Joey pulled back again when Yami tried to get inside his trunks again.

"Yami, I don't…want to do that." He was blushing profusely and looked very flustered.

"You do not love me back? But you kissed me…"

"I do love you, but I'm not really sure like that…" He was so red that Yami was wondering if he might pass out. "This is all just so sudden. I did like the kiss though." If it was possible, he got even redder and looked away. "It's just that I don't want to, you know, have sex right now. It reminds me too much of…" He clammed up and fell silent.

"Of what?" Yami had a feeling that it had something to do with his father. Had his father done more than just beat him?

Joey gulped. "Right before we left on this trip, the night right before, I was packing. I was really excited about this trip and got a little noisy, my dad came in and he was pissed off. He was also dead drunk; I could smell the whiskey on him. He started yelling and beating at me, like he usually does. He does it more often than I'd like to admit. Usually he just punches me a few times, tells me to shut up, and leaves. I don't like it but I'm used to it."

"You should go to the police, Joey. What he is doing is not right. They can help you." Yami placed a comforting hand on Joey's shoulder.

"But what can they do? They'd never believe me anyway, not with my record. And what he did next…"

"He molested you, right?" It's what Yami had been wondering about for a while. Joey acted like everything was okay, but Yami could tell that it wasn't.

"More than that, he flat out raped me! My own dad…" He was trembling now.

"The police have got to listen to you, Joey. This has got to stop; he cannot get away with doing that to his own son." Yami pulled Joey into a hug. He knew that a victim of domestic abuse would often not tell on the one doing the abuse, still feeling loyalty towards him or her even though they were being abused.

"But I'm a guy. They'll never believe me, or care, if I tell them." He stared to cry now, wrapping his arms around the smaller form of Yami.

"Why should the gender matter? Rape is rape, regardless. They are complete sexist bigots if they think otherwise." Yami held onto Joey, stroking his hair and murmuring softly to him as he sobbed against his small chest.

After a time Joey quieted and pulled back, all cried out. "Thanks, Yami, I needed to get that off my chest." He was trying to get his tough guy persona back after that emotional display.

"It is okay. Keeping it all locked up inside is not healthy. Are you going to be okay?" Yami pulled Joey into another hug, enjoying the warmth of his body.

"Yeah," Joey wiped the tears away. "You don't, ya know, hate me now? Do you?"

"Why would I hate you?" Yami was confused.

"I don't know. It makes me feel dirty, what he did to me."

"He is the dirty one, Joey. It was not your fault, and there is no reason for you to feel ashamed about it."

"I know, but I kinda do." Joey stood up. "We really need to lighten the mood around here, it's gettin' really gloomy. Let's go play a game or something."

"Just as long as you are sure that you are okay." Yami stood up next to him. He was still tired from his encounter in the water, but had been revitalized by Joey and was willing to do anything to make him happy again.

"Yeah, I'm okay, man, don't worry." He stepped over to his bag and started digging around, looking for some jeans to change out of his wet trunks.

"Before we go," Yami smirked mischievously at the taller boy, "Could I get another kiss?"

"Now you're just pushing your luck." He sighed. "I guess." He liked it too and walked over to Yami, leaned down, and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"That is it?" Yami pouted a little.

"Yes, I said you were pushing your luck."

Just as Joey was pulling on his jeans, the other members of their group burst through the door. "Guess what, guys?" Bakura held up a brochure with a similar design to the one Yami had for the Duel Monster's tournament, "There's a festival tonight! Games, food, and fireworks!"

"Let's go to it," Téa beamed. "I even brought along a yukata that I wanted to wear."

The excitement of their friends was contagious and Joey was getting into it. "How about we all wear them? Though I don't have one."

"Aren't those only for girls?" Tristan asked.

"And you call yourself Japanese," Joey shook his head at him. "No, they aren't just for girls; just it's usually girls that wear them."

"Then let's go buy some, I'm sure the shops in town will have some," Téa suggested. When Joey and Yami had gone into their cabin together she had tried to listen in to what was going on but had failed when Tristan and Bakura had come up to her and showed her the thing about the festival. She still thought that something was going on between them and was itching to know what it was.

Joey threw on a shirt and his flip-flops and was out the door with the others, Yami was still only wearing wet swimming trunks so he hung back to change into dry clothes in private then followed them. He had to run to keep up with their longer legs. He still found it hard to believe what had happened back there, he and Joey really had kissed and Joey had opened up to him and told him what had happened and why he had those scars. Joey was acting happy again, and Yami could tell that he was doing better than he was before.

Once in town they did find yukata for all of them. Bakura found a blue one and Tristan a green. They both got boys yukata, and Joey had been planning on getting one too; until he saw this one that he just had to have. It was a girl's yukata but he didn't care. It was every color of the rainbow and had flowers and butterflies all over it. He just had to have it.

"Look at this, guys, I want this one!" He fingered it.

"Joey, that's a girl's one," Téa informed him, even though it was obvious.

"Yeah, so? It is vacation and I want this one!" He seemed quite determined to have it.

"Joey, everyone will make fun of you if you wear that." Tristan tried to get him to not get it.

"I will not make fun of you," Yami said. He wasn't really sure he wanted to wear a yukata, never having worn one before, but if Joey wanted to wear a girl's one he could go right ahead.

"Don't encourage him, Yami," Téa signed. "It's also the most expensive one in the store. Do you even have enough?"

Joey dug through his wallet. "…No." He gave everyone puppy-dog eyes. "Could you help me out?" No one could resist the face and pitched in to pay for it. Joey put it on and frolicked about in it, giggling like a little girl. It was so bright and colorful that it was almost blinding to look at him.

"I'm not associated with him," Tristan muttered as he wondered off with Bakura to look at some swords the store had on display. The two had become inseparable on their trip and could always be seen together.

Now the only one without a yukata was Yami. "Hey, Yami, you should get one of the girl's ones too, they're way better looking."

"I do not know…" None of them had caught his eye.

"Will you wear one if I find one that's black with red dragons on it?"

"Yes," Yami liked the sound of that, but he didn't think Joey could find one in that pattern that would fit him. While they were supposed to be able to fit any size, but most of them were too big for him.

But both red and dragons were pretty common in Asian clothing so it wasn't hard to find. What was hard was finding black in a summer kimono; most of them were light colors. But Joey managed it; he found exactly what he had been talking about. Yami had said that we'd wear it and he did. While Joey looked pretty ridiculous, Yami made it look cool. And so they all went to the festival wearing yukatas.

They ran around to lots of places, eating and playing games. They tried to stay together but the place was crowded and they got split up. Joey and Yami ended up together. "Hey, look what I won, Yami," Joey held up a bag filled with water, "One of those little turtles that you win if you can scoop it up."

"That is nice, Joey, but what are you going to do with it? It will die if you keep it in a bag with no air." Yami didn't know much about turtles but knew they needed air.

"Oh, you're right. Let's let it go. I think I saw a pond over here." He grabbed onto Yami's hand so they wouldn't lose each other and led him to it. Joey had gotten quite a few looks because of his overly colorful yukata, and the fact that he was a guy wearing said girl's yukata, but he had ignored them.

They found a shrine a ways from the main festival. It was surrounded by a garden that did indeed have a pond in it; and many trees, rocks, and flowers as well. It was dark out now and the entire shrine was lit up with paper lanterns that were hung on lines all above the shrine.

Joey knelt down by the pond and let the little green turtle go. It swam away, finding some reeds to hide in. "Be safe, little fellow."

Joey stood up and spotted a bench and so he sat down on it. "This place really is something, isn't it?"

Yami sat down next to him. "Yes, it is beautiful."

They sat in a comfortable silence, just enjoying the pretty little place. Yami slowly snuck his hand closer to Joey's and laid it on top of it. Joey didn't move his hand away. "Earlier, back in the cabin, when you said that you loved me, did you really mean it?" Joey asked.

"Yes, I meant it with all my heart." Yami looked Joey directly in the eyes.

It made Joey nervous and he looked away. "I well, I um." Joey couldn't get the words out.

Yami scooted closer to Joey on the bench. He then gently took his shoulders in both hands and pulled him into a kiss. Unlike last time, Joey didn't protest, only pulled Yami closer. Yami moved so that he was straddling Joey's lap and had a better position to kiss him. He pressed himself right up against the taller boy and in this pose was face to face with him. Finally, Yami pulled back and sat back down next to Joey.

Joey was blushing again. "Yami, I-"

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by Téa, Tristan, and Bakura practically galloping into the garden. "There you guys are! We were looking all over for you," Téa said, taking deep breathes from her run to find them. She could have sworn that from a distance she saw them very close together. She was still suspicious that something was going on between Joey and Yami.

"The fireworks are about to start!" Bakura announced excitedly.

"Yeah, if we hurry we can still get a good spot!" Tristan said, urging them to come quickly.

There was a large field were all the festival goers gathered to watch the fireworks. They made it just in time to find a spot before it started. Joey and Yami hung back a little from the rest, holding hands.

Téa noticed this and was going to call them on it because normally male friends didn't stand around holding hands in public, but they just looked so happy and contented with each other that she couldn't bring herself to do it. There was obviously something going on between them. Maybe she really had seen them kissing back on that bench.

The fireworks started and she was distracted from her thoughts. The group watched in wonder as beautiful colors filled the sky in loud bursts. By the end of it they were all awed and contented. In the light of one of the last fireworks, Téa glanced back at Joey and Yami and saw that Yami was leaning against Joey's arm, dozing off. It had been a long day and they were all tired and needed sleep.

After the show ended the crowd dispersed, going their separate ways. Everything was pretty calm and the general feeling in the air was happiness. Then all hell broke loose. A gun shot rend the air and shattered the peace. Someone went down and the crowd panicked and ran every which way.

….

Once the crowd parted they saw Bakura sprawled on the ground, moaning and clutching at his left shoulder, which was bleeding badly. Tristan was knelt by his side. "Are you okay, Ryo? Someone shot you; of course you're not okay!" He was freaking out a little.

The rest of the gang all crowded around. "Is he going to be okay?" Téa asked, worry etched on her face.

"If I get my hands on da bastard that did this…" Joey was streaming, looking around for the creep who had shot his friend. The five friends were the only ones left in the field.

They rushed Bakura to the hospital, the nurses shooed them away and told them that waiting at the hospital was pointless and they should go back home and get some rest. The four friends didn't want to, but they did as they were told and went back to their cabins.

They sat around in Joey and Yami's cabin, all were worried with no clue what to do. "We really should do like they said and get some sleep." Téa said.

"You're right, but I'm not sure that I can sleep worrying that Ryo isn't going to be okay." Tristan said. On this trip he had developed a real attachment to the white-haired boy and didn't like being separated from him.

"But he just got shot in the shoulder. That's not a vital spot; he should be okay, right?" Joey pointed out.

"But what if it gets infected or it was poisoned or something?" Tristan was coming up with all the worst-case scenarios he could think of; which wasn't helping his worry at all.

"Guys, let us just stay calm and get some rest. Bakura will be fine; worrying will not get us anywhere," Yami said reasonably.

Téa and Tristan left to go to their own cabins. "Well, there's nothing we can do about any of this," Joey said, stripping off his yukata and climbing up to the top bunk in his underwear. "Though if I ever catch the bastard that shot Bakura I'm gonna show him one for."

"Joey, what was the real reason for you wanting to get that girl's yukata?" Yami asked out of the blue.

"For my sister. I thought it was something she'd like and wanted to try it on myself." He pulled the covers over himself. "Since she couldn't come I thought it would be nice to get her something." Joey's sister, Serenity, had originally planned to join the rest of them on their trip, but had gotten a summer cold and couldn't come.

"That does sound more likely then you just suddenly turning into a cross-dresser for the hell of it." Yami pulled his own yukata off, folding it and laying it next to his bag. "Should you not fold it though, being a gift and all?"

"I wore it, I'll need to wash it before giving it to her," Joey said with one eye open, watching Yami.

"Wonder what she will think after she hears you wore it, in public no less." Yami smirked.

"Heh," Joey rolled over. "She'll probably just giggle."

Yami put his pajamas on. While digging through his bag he found the Millennium Puzzle. Oh crap, in all the excitement of the day he had completely forgotten about Yugi. He reluctantly picked it up and made contact with Yugi's mind.

Yugi was silent for a time, which scared Yami more than if he had started yelling at him. 'And what do you have to say for yourself?' Yugi finally said.

'Bakura got shot.' Yami decided it was safer to start with that; it might distract Yugi from being angry with him.

'What? How? Is he okay?' Yugi was very much distracted.

'We went to a festival and after the fireworks someone shot him. It was dark; we have no idea who it was. We do not know if Bakura was even the true target.'

'That's horrible! Is he okay?'

'He got shot in the shoulder, so he is most likely out of danger. I am still worried about him, though.'

The two boys didn't say anything through their mind link for a while, both silently worried for their friend. 'So what else did you do today, without me?' Yugi was still sore about Yami leaving him in the Puzzle all day.

Yami felt rather guilty about leaving Yugi like that and told him everything, even about kissing Joey. He had been tempted to skip though parts, but with their minds linked it would have been hard to hide it from Yugi. Besides, Yami didn't like to keep Yugi in the dark about it; it made him feel very guilty to keep secrets from his soul partner.

'So let me get this straight; you played Duel Monsters, almost drown, made out with my best friend, wore girl's clothes, made out with my best friend again, and Bakura got shot?'

'Pretty much, it has been a long, crazy day. I did find out what happened to Joey; about the scars on his back.'

'Yeah, you did do that. That must have been horrible. If Grandpa ever did that to me…' Yugi trailed off.

'Your grandfather would never do that. He is a kind man.'

'Yeah, I'm glad.'

'Are you mad at me?' Yugi had every right to be angry with Yami after all he had done that day.

'I'd like to be, but for some reason I'm not. It's going to be really awkward though, you and Joey. It is my body after all.' Yugi was too nice of a person to stay angry with anyone for long.

'Yeah, though I think you should have your body back now, after I hogged it all day.' Yami slipped back inside the Puzzle, letting Yugi take control.

Yugi turned the light in the cabin off and slipped into bed, pulling the covers over himself. Just as he was drifting off he heard a noise and felt something crawl into bed with him. "Can I sleep with you tonight, Yami? With what happened to Bakura I'm kinda scared," Joey said in the dark.

"I'm not Yami," Yugi replied, feeling uncomfortable with Joey being so close, and so under clothed.

"Oh, oops, so that was whats you were doing down there staring at the Puzzle. Hi, Yugi, I haven't seen you in a while." Yugi had been right; this was awkward.

"That's because Yami stuffed me inside his clothes bag. Sometimes I get the feeling that you like him better than me." It hurt Yugi to think that people liked his other self better than the original.

"That's not true! I like both of you!"

"But you kissed him." Yugi crossed his arms over his little chest and glared at Joey in the dark. It would have had more effect if Joey had seen it.

"You want me to kiss you?" Joey leaned in closer, he wasn't against that. It was Yami who was attracted to him, but Yugi had the same body, the same lips. He found himself wanting to kiss the small boy.

Yugi planted his hands on Joey's bare chest and pushed him away. "No!"

Joey pulled back. "Sorry, man, you kinda made it sound like that."

They stayed in an awkward silence. "Can I still sleep with you? Not like that, just sleep, in the same bed, next to you?" Joey wasn't giving up.

Yugi sighed. "Okay, fine. Just don't try anything. Unlike Yami, I only like you as a friend." Yugi realized how mean that had sounded and tried to reword it. "What I mean is, that is to say…."

"I get what you mean, Yug. Let's just get some sleep."

….

The next morning everyone went to the hospital to see Bakura. He was well enough that they could take him back with them to their cabins. In spite of all of Tristan's dire predictions, the bullet had not been poisoned and he hadn't gotten an infection. His arm had to be in a sling though and he wasn't allowed to use it. They had given him so many painkillers that he was pretty out of it though and Tristan had to practically carry him.

Once back at the cabins they say down at the picnic table outside them. They were all pretty subdued and quiet. "Maybe we should just call off the vacation," Joey suggested; having someone get hurt put a real dampener on their fun.

"Don't do that," Bakura said, his voice was low and he sounded very weak, "Don't cancel the vacation just because of me." He shifted and made the mistake of bumping his elbow into the table. He let out a gasp and everyone jumped to try to help. "I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry about me," he said through clenched teeth.

"You are not fine, Ryo, you need to take it easy," Tristan said, placing a hand on his good shoulder. "Let's take you back to the cabin so you can lie down." Bakura leaned on Tristan and they made it to the cabin.

Everyone followed them and relocated in their cabin. Bakura had originally been staying in the top bunk but now Tristan helped him lie down in the bottom one so that he wouldn't have to try to climb up the ladder with only the use of one hand. Once he was on the bed, Bakura started to drift off, falling asleep in a few minutes.

"If I ever find the bastard that shot him…" Tristan trailed off, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"I'm with you, man. That guy has got to pay for what he did to our friend," Joey agreed with Tristan.

"But we have no idea who did it or where he might be," Téa said sadly.

"But we do," Yugi said, holding out a newspaper. On the front page it read, "Fair-hair Shooter Strikes Again!"

"Where'd ya get that?" Joey said, taking it and scanning the article.

"Outside the hospital, they had a stand selling them and the headline caught my eye," Yugi explained. "But look, it has a story about some creep in this area that targets people with light-colored hair and shoots them. So far he's tried to shoot three people, including Bakura. No one's died yet, but it's bound to happen. It says here that he only goes after people with white or blonde hair, so it's usually the elderly or foreigners that get shot."

"So with Bakura's white hair…" Téa started.

"He stood out like a beacon last night, even in the dark, and made the perfect target," Tristan finished for her.

"They give a description of the guy too, middle-aged, kinda stocky, with black hair that is going bald. He was last seen wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses," Yugi read from the paper.

"There are lots of people around that could fit that description, and if he sees this paper he's sure to get a disguise," Téa pointed out.

"Yeah, but that doesn't stop us from looking!" Joey said, now psyched up to go and find him.

"While I want to go find the guy and give him a piece of my mind too, I think I'd better stay here with Ryo. He might need my help," Tristan said, absently fingering a lock of Bakura's hair.

"Alright, you hold down the fort, and we'll go get us some bad guy!" Joey ran out the door, Téa and Yugi on his heels.

They went into town, searching everywhere for someone who matched the description in the newspaper. They didn't find anyone who fit it in the main part of town, which was pretty much one big tourist trap, so they wandered around until they got to the outskirts of town. The outskirts were pretty run down, with dilapidated buildings in need of repair, and rats, not all of whom had tails and whiskers, scurrying about.

Suddenly, a man come out from behind some trash cans and grabbed Yugi, pressing a gun to his head. "Take another step and I'll blow his brains all over the ground." They had found the Faired-haired Shooter, or more like, he had found them. He had been lurking behind the cans when he had seen the three teenagers walking by. It had taken him awhile to choose which one to pick. Joey, with his blonde hair, was an obvious choice; but he was also the biggest and strongest of the group. Téa, being a girl, would also make a good target; but with her brown hair held no interest for him. Then there was Yugi, small, easy to grab, and his crazy blonde, black, and magenta hair did have some blonde in it so he picked Yugi as his target.

'Yami, help me,' Yugi said inside his head. He was petrified and didn't know what to do.

Yami took over, glaring up at the man who was holding a gun to his head. "Oh, you do not really want to do that, do you? Not when I have a proposition I think you will like."

The Fair-haired Shooter blinked. Was this really the same shy, wimpy little boy he had first grabbed? His expression had completely changed and he looked like a different person; a much fiercer person. "Oh, what did you have in mind?"

"Last night, at the fireworks show at the festival, you shot at someone in the crowd, correct?" Yami had figured out that this must be the shooter.

"Yes, yes I did. Someone with quite white hair."

"And would not you like to get your hands on that same person?"

Joey and Téa's eyes went wide. They couldn't believe what they were hearing; Yami, selling their friend out? Impossible! "Yami, what do you th,-" Joey started.

Yami ignored him. "I know where he is. And if you let me go I will take you to him."

Now Joey and Téa were really worried. "How could you even think such a thing, that's just despicable!" Téa said, getting angry now. This was so unlike her friend, he would never do something like this.

"Ah, I like the way you think, kid. I'll take you up on that," he pushed Yami so he was standing in a bunch with the others, "But I'm not letting any of you go until I see this white-haired boy for myself."

"Fair enough," Yami kept his expression blank, not giving anything away.

"How could you, Yami, how could you?" Joey hissed in his ear.

Yami glanced at Joey out of the corner of his eye. "Play along," he said in a low voice so the shooter couldn't hear him.

This made Joey feel quite a bit better. This was all just some kind of plan to get them free, not a betrayal of friends. He nodded, nudging Téa so she could know that it was okay.

The shooter pushed them ahead of him through the back streets of the town, avoiding the main streets so they wouldn't be spotted. Yami was quickly formulating plans in his head for their escape. The first plan, get himself and Yugi out of immediate danger, had worked. Now all he had to do was distract the man so they could disarm him. If they could do that Joey would have no problem taking him down.

It would be risky, but he had an idea. He pretended to stumble, and fell down, clutching at his ankle like it was injured. The shooter was distracted, and stopped to prod him with his foot. "Get up!"

"Now!" Yami shouted. He hoped Joey and Téa would know what to do.

Joey lunged at the man, punching him in the jaw. While he was busy seeing if his jaw was broken, Téa kicking the gun out of his hand with a high kick. Now that he was unarmed, Joey let loose on him, beating the hell out of him. Yami had to pull him back before he went too far. "That is enough." The man had a broken nose and was begging for mercy.

"I'm so glad that you were just thinking of a way for us to get away, not betraying us," Téa said, trying to give Yami a hug.

Yami sidestepped it, getting only a side hug instead of a full one. "I would never do that. You guys are my friends." He patted Téa on the back. Girls were so awkward.

"Let's go turn this bastard in," Joey said, yanking the man up by the back of his shirt.

They went to the police and gave them the Fair-haired Shooter. What they didn't know was that there was a reward to anyone who turned him in. If they had read the entire article they would have seen it, but they only scanned it.

"Alright, I can use this money to,-" Joey was rather poor and could do all kinds of things with the money.

"Pay for Bakura's hospital bill?" Téa suggested.

"Um, yeah, that."

Things were finally starting to look up. Bakura's shooter had been caught, and no one else had been hurt. The three friends walked back to the cabin, chatting animatedly about what they were going to do next. What they found at the cabin froze them in their tracks.

….

Téa let out an ear-splitting scream. Inside the cabin, Tristan was lying face down on the floor, a small pool of blood underneath him. And Bakura was being held up by his good arm by a man holding a knife to his throat. Bakura was out cold, completely limp. The man was quite tall and thin, with scraggly brown hair and a sinister smile.

"I was wondering if anyone would show up," the man said with a soft chuckle.

"What did you do to them?" Joey, Yami, and Téa all shouted at once.

"Oh, neither of them is dead, if that was what you were wondering. The big oaf over there tried to stop me so I knocked him out. His head made a very pleasant sound when it hit the floor." He chuckled, running a boney hand through Bakura's white locks. "It's a shame that this one had to faint. It would have been so much more fun if he had stayed awake so I could hear him scream."

"Let him go!" Yami demanded.

"Why should I? He's just what I was looking for. Such pale hair, and he's young too, which makes it all the better." He stoked Bakura's cheek.

"Not another fair-haired creep," Téa shuddered.

"Oh, you see, there are really two "Fair-handed Shooters," as the paper so cutely put it. I, on the other hand, prefer to use a knife." He moved the knife in a suggestive slash across Bakura's throat, mere inches from it.

"You bastard!" Joey yelled at him. He wanted to run at the guy and punch his lights out, but he didn't dare with a knife to Bakura's throat. He was helpless to do anything…Unless. He stepped forward, placing a hand on his chest. "Take me instead. Look at my hair, its blonde, that's pretty pale, right? And what fun would it be to have Bakura when he's already injured?"

"Joey!" While Yami wanted to save Bakura as much as Joey did, he didn't like this idea.

"Hmm, it's an interesting proposal. While I did come here looking for the white-haired boy, he is injured, which makes it not as much fun. Oh why not," the Fair-haired Slasher said.

Joey stepped forward, standing in front of the man. "If you let Tristan go I'll not struggle."

"Oh, you mean the baboon on the floor? I have no want for him at all, go ahead and take him. But I do want you to struggle; it's no fun if you don't." He smirked wickedly. He unceremoniously dropped Bakura, letting him fall like a sack of potatoes. Luckily, Téa managed to catch him before he hit the flood.

Yami walked slowly around the mad man, and knelt down by Tristan. He checked his pulse and if he was breathing first, he was. Then he carefully flipped him over. The blood all over the floor had come from a long slash on his chest. It was still oozing blood. He grabbed Tristan by his armpits and dragged him out of the cabin. Téa followed him with Bakura.

Once they had both of their friends to safety they stood at the door to the cabin, wanting badly to go inside but fearing to. If they went inside the man would kill Joey. But come to think of it, if they didn't go inside he probably would too. But they didn't really know what the man was planning to do to their friend. They heard Joey say, "No, I didn't think you were planning to do THAT to me." There was the sound of his shoes hitting the floor as he backed up; then the sound of ripping cloth.

"I cannot stand this any longer," Yami didn't care, he was going in and he was going to save Joey. No one messed with his Joey.

He quietly opened the door so the mad man wouldn't hear him. Inside the cabin the Fair-haired Slasher had Joey backed up against the wall. The ripping sound had been from Joey's shirt being ripping in half and thrown on the flood. In one hand the man held the knife to Joey's throat, the other was shoved down the front of Joey's jeans, groping. Joey's eyes were squeezed shut and he was shaking.

Yami didn't take the time to think through a plan, he just charged at the man, using his small body as a human battering ram to knock the man down. They both went sprawling, Yami on top. He grabbed for the knife, flinging it under the bed and out of reach.

It took the man a second to recover from the sudden attack. Once he did he sat up and grabbed onto Yami's throat, squeezing with all of his might. "Teach you to try to attack me, little brat."

Yami started to black out, stars swam in his vision. Joey snapped out of his frozen state of fear and took action. He landing a very hard kick to the man's back, toppling him over. Yami let out a huge gasp and gulped in air. He dizzily got to his feet to help Joey with the man. He had no need to; Joey had already knocked him out and was standing over him, panting.

"I can't….he almost…that sick bastard." He spat out the last word, glaring daggers at the unconscious mad man.

"Are you okay? He did not hurt you, did he?" Yami stepped over to Joey, rubbing his throat. It already had finger shaped bruises forming on it.

"Yeah, I'm okay. All he did was touch me." Even so he was shuddering. "That reminded me way too much of what my dad did to me."

Yami patted Joey on the back, looking up into his brown eyes. "That will not happen again. If he tries it again he will have to deal with me."

"That would be scary. Thanks for saving me; I didn't know you could do that." Joey grinned.

"Just because I am small does not mean I am helpless." He looked to the door. "We had better tell Téa that we are okay or she will worry herself to death."

"Yami, I,-" Joey wrapped his arms around the small boy. "Thanks, again."

Yami returned the hug, standing on the tips of his toes to get higher up, but right before he could kiss Joey, Yugi took over and pulled back. "You're welcome, Joey. Now let's go take this creep to the police." While Yugi was fine with Yami hugging Joey, he wasn't sure he wanted him to kiss him anymore. It made him very uncomfortable.

Joey had noticed the sudden change but didn't say anything about it. "Yeah, we should."

They did just that and took the man to the police. They were so impressed that they paid for both Bakura's and Tristan's hospital bills and gave them a little extra. Bakura wasn't injured any more than he already had been, so they didn't need to keep him at the hospital. Tristan had a nasty headache when he woke up and the slash on his chest needed five stitches.

….

They took it easy the next couple of days, staying inside mostly and playing board and card games. They had thought of just cancelling the trip and going home, but decided not to and just do things that wouldn't get them hurt.

On the last day of the trip, while everyone else was in Tristan and Bakura's cabin watching a superhero movie, Joey and Yami were out on the beach. Joey was trying to teach Yami to swim again. They were doing much better this time and Yami had already learned how to do a doggy-paddle.

Finally Yami got tired and come out of the water. "That is enough for now." Yugi had been reluctant to let Yami be by himself with Joey after he had tried to kiss him, but since Yami had been stuck in the Puzzle for two days he managed to make Yugi feel guilty enough to let him. Yami couldn't decide if Yugi was being selfish for not letting him build a relationship with Joey, or if it was just his right with it being his body.

"Okay," Joey followed him out. They both sat down on the beach, looking out at the shining water.

It was the middle of the afternoon and the sun was hot; soon they were dry. "We should probably head inside so we don't get sunburn," Joey said, "Though I've never really gotten one. I just tan." He hadn't been out in the sun long enough this trip to get more than a slight one.

"Lucky. I just burn and turn red like a lobster. But I did put on sunscreen." In spite of the hot sun, a chill breeze blew in from the North and Yami shivered. He wrapped the light blue towel he had brought down to the beach around his waist.

"So this is our last day," Joey said, gazing out at the deep blue sea. "Feels sad to go, we had so much fun. Some of it was scary, but in the end, it was fun." He stood, brushing the sand off.

Yami stood up next to him, gazing up into Joey's brown eyes. Joey looked back and violet eyes met chocolate brown ones. "Yami, I,-" Yami silenced him with a kiss. He felt a little guilty about doing it behind Yugi's back, but he wanted it so badly. Joey picked Yami up, holding him against him and off the ground so that they were face to face.

They stayed there, just enjoying each other, for some time before finally pulling away. "Yami, I love you." Joey had tried to say it many times before but he hadn't managed to get it out.

"I know. I love you too," Yami gave Joey one last kiss before coming back down to Earth.

"This was quite the summer vacation, wasn't it?" Joey said, grinning from ear to ear.

The End...for now