Hey guys! Welcome to my first ever Yugioh story! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I hope y'all enjoy! Read and Review!
Ages: Atem 25, Yami 21, Yugi, 17, Akefia 23, Ryou 18, Anzu 22. Anymore characters that appear will have their ages featured here as well, as I'm aware that keeping track of things like ages get very chaotic.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Yugioh.
"Are you trying to strangle me to death?!"
Atem gave a bemused smirk at his youngest brother's obvious discomfort. At 17, Yugi should have been capable of tying his own bow tie. Of course, Atem didn't exactly trust what the product of Yugi being left to his own devices with the bow tie would be, so perhaps just doing it himself was the best option.
"Okay, you're free to go," Atem said, ruffling Yugi's hair as the younger boy rose from the couch he had sat on. Yugiscowled and proceeded to fix his hair, though Atem could tell by the amusement in the younger boy's eyes that he meant nothing by it.
"Thanks Atem."
"Don't thank me. I doubt I could trust you to do it yourself." Atem laughed at the tomato shade that Yugi's fair complexion began to turn.
"I don't see why we're getting all dressed up for this."
Atem and Yugi turned to see their brother Yami standing in the door way, his clothes half-way fixed and his already unruly hair even more askew than usual.
"Because Yami, who would have thought that Akefia would find a woman he would even be willing to stay with for a couple of months, much less marry her," Atem replied, growing irritated with his brother's lack of concern towards his appearance, though one would never know because of the cool composure he maintained.
All three of the brothers shared the same unruly, tri-colored hair that they'd inherited from their father. Yugi and Yami could have passed for twins had Yugi lost his baby face. They both shared the same fair skin, while Atem had inherited the dark skin of his mother. The similarities did not end at their hair though, as Atem and Yugi possessed the deep, purple eyes of their father, while Yami had gained the dark maroon eyes of his and Yugi's mother.
"I would wager this marriage lasts less than three months," Yami replied, his expression growing bored.
"Come on Yami, you don't even have to stay at the reception," Yugi offered, trying to keep the peace between his brothers. Despite being the youngest, he surprisingly the least temperamental. Their grandfather used to joke that Atemand Yami had inherited all of their father's temperament, and had left nothing for Yugi, which was why he was able to play the role of peacemaker so well.
"Yami, Akefia and Ryou would come if the roles had been reversed."
"Hell then, I'll say two months. I just think it's ridiculous that you're making us go," Yami retorted.
"Fine, don't go. You're an adult. Do whatever you damn well please," Atem said, his voice calm and cold. He grabbed his own bow tie from the couch, and left the room towards the hall bathroom, bumping his shoulder past Yami's own on his way out.
Yugi sank down back on the couch and felt a lump forming in his throat. Yami scoffed, but said nothing else as he made his way to the cushion beside Yugi and sat down.
"Why do you always start these arguments with him," Yugi asked somewhat timidly. Despite both Yami and Atem having the same anger, Atem's was cold while Yami's was like a volcano on the cusp of erupting. Yugi had put himself in the role of Pompeii while Yami was Mount Vesuvius. Instead of blowing up, Yami instead sighed and began to fiddle with the buttons on his shirt.
"I just don't want to go."
"You're great friends with Akefia though, and Ryou even. We've know them since we were younger. Why wouldn't you want to go celebrate this?"
"I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he was there, Yugi. I don't even want to be in the same city as him, much less attend the same wedding," Yami replied, changing his focus from his shirt buttons to his suddenly interesting finger nails. Yugiknew exactly who Yami was referring to, and began to understand exactly why Yami was being so difficult.
"I doubt Atem wants to see him either, Yami. But at least he's sucking it up to go and be there for Akefia. You're just acting childish though."
Yami could have exploded right then had he not noted the playfulness in Yugi's eyes. "You're being a real pain in my ass right now, you know? Trying to tell me that I'm acting childish, and I'm four years older than you."
"Me? The pain in the ass?" Yugi asked in a mocking tone. With that being the last straw, Yami pounced on Yugi and the two began to wrestle. Though, because of large gap in their height differences, it wasn't much of a wrestle; more like Yami holding Yugi pinned to the floor. Yami gave his younger brother one last playful shove before finally getting off of him.
Yugi was positive he would have a bruise or two, but that was to be expected when he and Yami 'fought'. Yami always had the advantage of more height and weight on his side, which led to a perpetually unfair fight. He picked himself off the floor, and when he did he noticed the tightness around his neck was gone. He looked back down to the floor where he had been pinned and saw his blue bow tie laying in a knot.
"He's going to kill you," Yami said, his tone more playful than it had been all evening. Yugi glanced at his older brother and glared long and hard.
"Help me find a YouTube tutorial before he comes back then, or we're both dead."
On a Saturday night, Domino City was surprisingly calm. In the hour leading up to his wedding, Akefia Bakura was surprisingly stressed.
He loved Anzu. Hell, he'd never loved anyone nearly as much, save for Ryou, and even then the differences in his love for both of them were staggering. Honestly, he thought, I don't understand why this has me so shaken. I proposed. I want this.
And he did.
On the night of the proposal six months ago, Akefia had been surprised when the words came out of his mouth. He didn't have a ring, didn't get down on his knees, and the gesture wasn't grand. They had been sitting on the floor of his kitchen, along with Ryou, around a mess of Lo Mein noodles. There was no clear victor in the noodle war, but that didn't matter as all three of them were laughing in a circle about the mess they had created. He looked her over and noticed the beauty there was of her with her hair up in a messy bun with no makeup on, sweatpants and one of his t-shirts, along with noodles hanging down from her hair.
"Let's get married," He announced, his light purple eyes staring at her intently. One glance at Ryou could show that his younger brother looked on the verge of fainting. Anzu stared back at him, her expression bewildered.
"Right now?" She asked, pulling a noodle from his hair.
"Whenever you want. It doesn't matter to me."
"Let's clean up the kitchen first, and then we'll worry about a time," Anzu said, her mouth forming a large grin. She moved to kiss Akefia on his cheek, but before she could make contact, Akefia moved her face with his hands and captured his mouth with her own. The kiss was amazing and simple, but soon ended once they felt small pellets of something hit them. They broke away to see Ryou holding a cup of rice, a cheeky grin on his face.
"You're supposed to throw it for good luck, right?" He said as he continued to throw more rice. Akefia grabbed some of the noodles from his hair and began to direct his aim towards Ryou.
"I'll show you good luck!" He began to throw noodles at Ryou, a deep, gruff chuckle coming from his mouth.
That night had easily become one of his favorite memories.
Looking back on the night helped lower Akefia's own anxiety towards his wedding, though he still went to his dresser and took a swig of the liquor that sat there. Maybe he should take two for good luck.
"Anzu will kill you if you slur your vows," A soft male voice said behind him. Akefia turned to see his Ryou, completely dressed immaculate, save for his hair. He wore khaki pants, a black button up shirt, and bright red bow tie that was of course perfect.
"You know good a well it takes me more than a few sips to get even slightly buzzed."
"You know she's good a figuring out that kind of thing," Ryou said, making his way across the room towards his older brother. He surveyed him and found his khaki pants and white button up to be somewhat decent, but discovered that he was severely lacking in the bow tie department. Despite his brother being almost a tower over him, he suddenly seemed very small now.
"What's got you shaken," Ryou asked quietly, grabbing Akefia's red bow tie and proceeding to correct the poorly formed knot.
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Akefia asked through somewhat clenched teeth. Ryou could tell by the way Akefia kept darting his eyes around the room that he wasn't angry though.
"Because most people try not to get drunk until the reception."
"Have I ever followed conventional standards, Ryou?"
Ryou let out a small laugh and shook his head. "No, I guess not."
Ryou took his hands away from the finished masterpiece of a bow tie, and stepped away from Akefia. "Listen I don't know what's wrong, but if you're worried that this is a bad idea, don't be. It's still basically going to be the same at home, except Anzu will be around more often."
"I know, it's just..." Akefia trailed of. He ran a hand through his snowy white hair, and grabbed the liquor bottle once more for one last swig.
"If you're up for talking, let me know," Ryou said, his large brown eyes wide with compassion. He turned around and left the room, his steps quiet, leaving Akefia alone once more.
Talking with Ryou had calmed Akefia's nerves a bit, though they were still nowhere near being calm. He went to take a fourth swig from the bottle still in his hands, but stopped himself and set the bottle back down on his dresser.
"I hope you're right Ryou," Akefia said to an empty room.
"Atem, can you get your brother to stop crying? He's going to wake up Ryou," A frustrated child, Akefia, huffed. His brother Ryou was two and it was sometimes hell to get him to fall asleep for his nap. Ryou's favorite place to sleep was nestled into Akefia's shoulder, and that was where his present spot was.
Atem glared at the white-haired boy as he frantically bounced his little brother Yugi against his chest. "Shh, please go to sleep."
Yami glanced at the two older boys, an amused expression on his face."He's not going to fall asleep without his pacifier."
"You don't think I don't know that?" Atem snarled. "It's your fault we don't have it."
"It's not like I said 'Here puppy, chew Yugi's Paci into a jillion pieces."
"Will you two shut up? Ryou is sleep-" Akefia's train of thought was put to an abrupt stop as he felt a small tears falling down his shirt. "Shit."
"This is your fault," Akefia snarled. Atem and Akefia held the same worn expression, one that looked out of place when held on a child's face. Their eyes were drooped and ringed with dark circles.
Yami's eyes narrowed, and his bottom lip began to quiver. At only seven, Yami was usually a pretty hard kid, but being told that something was your fault was something that was quite taxing on a seven-year-old. He clenched his fist in an attempt to keep tears from falling, and turned on his heels to leave the room.
He walked out of the room and made it to another room he had never been to before, which wasn't particularly surprising. He hated being cooped up in this house, and was normally outside any chance he got. The room was orderly. Too orderly for someone to be living in, and so Yami found a nice corner beside the window and sat down, bringing his knees up to his chest and bending his head down.
He stayed that way for a few minutes until he heard footsteps. He lifted his head to see a boy about his age with brown hair, and cool, sapphire eyes.
"What's the matter with you?"