Complex
By Citrus Luver
Author's note: This idea has been swimming in my head for a long time. I'm going to take the themes from 30 kisses (a LJ community). Each chapter will be a theme thus there will be 30 chapters. Some of the chapters will not flow together but instead be almost standalone stories all contained in this 'story universe'. I took the idea from a yaoi manga entitled Complex.
Summary: After duelist kingdom, after Battle City, after DOMA, after KC Grand Prix, after Bakura's Egyptian RPG, after the ceremonial duel, life must go on for Yuugi and his friends. High school has come and gone as do friends. The day you received a phone call that your childhood friend is dead is a day you never want to come. Even less you don't want to hear that in their will, they have left you their infant daughter.
Warning: Shonen ai is present which means boyXboy. I have brought Atemu back from the dead. Don't ask how… eventually I will explain it in one of the later chapters.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh.
Chapter 1
News, Letters
"Mutou-san, your attendance at my office is required tomorrow afternoon."
Those words rang through his ears. An ominous phone call from a Yamada-san who claimed he was lawyer. He couldn't understand why a lawyer wanted to see him. They were always so careful at hiding their tracks… and it been years since anything weird happened.
But then there were the events of last week, the same events that brought him back from a weeklong convention in America. The events had left him in shock. He still remembered that night. He had just gotten back to his hotel room after claiming victory from a particularly challenging opponent… although not as much of a challenge as Kaiba is on any level.
Aibou had called him by video home. Aibou's eyes were red and puffy. He remembered Jounouchi and Honda hovering in the background; they too were stoic and appeared to be in pain.
"Anzu was involved in a car crash. She died instantly."
He flew home immediately to be by Aibou's side. Although he hadn't been as close to Anzu as Aibou was, he knew Aibou needed him.
Anzu and Aibou had been friends since elementary school. They had been friends for years. She was his first friend and close confident. She had accepted him despite his awkwardness. They had a bond together that no matter how hard he tried, he and Aibou could never have. It was Aibou who gave her away on her wedding only last year. She said she felt it only right, for it was Yuugi who knew her better than anyone else.
Aibou gave the eulogy. It was a heart wrenching sight watching Aibou stumble through the words, holding back his flood of tears.
And all he could do was comfort the other.
"You think she felt it?" It was the first words Aibou had spoken all day. It was another long day. Aibou had volunteered their house to hold the wake. Anzu was never close with her parents. Another thing she and Aibou shared. He had watched Aibou fuss about the decorations, and nearly break into tears when the food started to 'sweat'. Something about Aibou would never change. He always wanted to be strong for the public. He hated appearing weak.
He turned to face his Aibou. The young man, now in his twenties, had long grown out of his baby fat years. His job as an archeologist and professor at Domino University had given him the muscles that he lacked in his awkward teenage years. Unlike most boys whose voices deepen when they were thirteen and hit their growth spurt. He instead had spouted when he turned eighteen. Now he was as tall as Jounouchi. Yet now, as he sat on their bed with his legs pulled closed to his chest, he was strangely reminded of the years when they first met. His eyes were puffy, a sign that he had been crying.
His eyes softened as he walked over to his Aibou's side and wrapped his arms around the other's waist. He lightly kissed the other's neck. "No, I'm sure she didn't. They said it was quick. She had just left from seeing a movie and a dinner they said. She was probably laughing and very happy."
Aibou seemed to have cheered up a bit by the other's words. The other felt a slight change in his Aibou's weight as the other leaned on his chest. "Yes, it was something that she liked to do. When we were little, we used to go see movies together a lot. She used to drag me to cheesy romance movies. I remember when Titanic finally came over from America. I think I saw that movie over ten times in the first week. She would say how great Jack was and wished that all men were like him." Aibou's voice seemed to crack less the more he spoke, and the other only nodded or made occasionally grunts.
They spent the night like that: Aibou describing little, mundane things about their friendship. He knew it helped the other coup, after all it was all he had left of her… only the memories.
Neither one knew what to dress for their meeting with Yamada-san. He wanted to go casual, but Aibou insisted on a suit and tie. As they walked into Yamada's office in downtown Domino, he was glad his Aibou had won the clothes battle, but he would never tell the other. Since he entered society, his fashion sense had greatly improved.
It was a big office, in the western style. A pretty young secretary sat behind a glass window. The waiting room was full of magazines that businessmen and important people often frequent.
He let his Aibou deal with her as he wandered over to the water dispenser to get them both cups of water. Before he even had a chance to sit down, Aibou had walked over. "Yamada-san is ready to see us."
"Any idea why?" Aibou shook his head.
They followed the pretty secretary through a series of door before ending up in an old western style room. It looked like one of those offices in that politicians in western movies often had. There, sitting in a long oak made chair was an elderly man. He had enough wrinkles on his face that they could make nice pockets. His hair was as white as snow but possessed a pair of stunning blue eyes. He motioned for them to sit down which they immediately did… both still completely confused.
"Mutou Yuugi-san and Mutou Atemu-san?" He began. He had a deep voice.
They both nodded. "You must be wondering why I called you both here."
"To be completely honest, we are very confused."
"Then I'll be frank with you. I was Masaki Anzu-san's lawyer."
"Lawyer?"
"Yes, my company has a branch in America too. She found us prior to moving to America to begin her dancing career. Unfortunately, she and her husband are no long in this world, and we have her final will."
"Will?" Yuugi's eyes widened. "I didn't realize people… well our age wrote wills."
"We advise all our clients to write wills. It's always better to prepare for the future," Yamada continued. "You two were in her will in fact."
"Oh."
"But don't the contents of wills usually get distributed earlier than this?" Atemu commented.
"Ahh, I see you have some knowledge of the law. That is correct. Her other possessions have already found homes. Unfortunately, what she left the two of you is not as… simple should I say. I should probably be frank with the two of you. I'm sure you both know Masaki-san had a child not even four months ago."
Yuugi's face paled. "Yes, she wrote to us. We were going to America for Christmas to visit. We had assumed the child had… passed away."
"Luckily for the child, Masaki-san had left the child with a baby-sitter that night. I'm sure you two will not be prepared for what I'm about to say. I'm still in shock about the arrangements that she made, but from I understand. You were one of Masaki's closest friends: having known each other nearly all your lives."
Yuugi nodded… still completely baffled by how these events linked together.
"To be up front, Masaki-san left her child, little Sakura with the two of you. The child is still in America. Due to the unusual circumstance of your… excuse me… your relationship with each other, the child has not been cleared until today. It's very rare for two grown men to be living together." Atemu simply grunted. He stared at the lawyer with that stare that always intimated the competition. Like with his dueling opponents, the lawyer immediately went quiet and awkwardly stared at the two. He fiddled with the papers in front of him.
The room went quiet even the bustling traffic seemed to have silenced. It was Yuugi who broke the silence. He looked at Atemu who appeared as pale as he knew he probably was. "A child, Anzu wants us to raise Sakura-chan?"
"Yes."
TBC