Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is not mine, and the parents of small children everywhere should be very, very glad that it isn't.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning in the city of Domino. A soft breeze whispered along the streets, the peaceful silence punctuated occasionally by birdsong and the laughter of small children. The sun shone brightly through the windows of Kame Game Shop, its rays stealing slowly but surely across the polished wood floor. They illuminated the many posters on the walls, the faithful cash register on the counter, and a sparkling glass case housing rare Duel Monsters cards before finally resting on the short figure of one pajama-clad Yugi Mutou.
Yawning and blinking wide violet eyes against the light, Yugi shook his golden bangs out of his vision and padded over to the front door of the shop to pick up the day's mail. He opened the envelopes and riffed through the letters sleepily, only barely glancing at each item before tossing it aside. This continued until he reached the very bottom of the pile, coming across a bright and colorful letter.
"Congratulations, Yugi Mutou! We are pleased to inform you that you are the grand prize winner of the KaibaLand Sweepstakes, earning you and seven friends the once-in-a-lifetime experience of an excursion to London, England - all expenses paid! Please follow the instructions included to retrieve your prize .."
Yugi nearly dropped the piece of paper in shock. After staring at it for a few long moments, he closed his eyes and gathered the energy to let out a piercing mental shriek.
/YAAAAMIIIIIIIIIIII!/
Somewhere deep inside the Millennium Puzzle, a former pharaoh with shocking hair was roused from slumber. He winced as Yugi's screech echoed off the stone walls, leaving a ringing in his ears.
//Yes, aibou?//
His hikari's voice dripped honey and sugary sweetness when he replied.
/Oh, I just want you to take a look at this letter I got./
The puzzle around Yugi's neck flashed golden, filling the entire room with a blinding light. When it dimmed again, another figure stood in the room - almost identical to the original occupant save for a few strands of hair and narrowed crimson eyes (he was also taller, but Yugi would never willingly bring that up). He cocked his head questioningly at the boy next to him.
"Did you enter me into the KaibaLand Sweepstakes?"
".. maybe."
A sigh. "Read this." The shorter boy pushed the letter into his counterpart's hands, giving Yami a glare as he did so.
Eyes the color of rubies scanned the lines of the text, and the venerable King of Games beamed. "But this is great, aibou! We're going to England - and Kaiba's paying for it!"
Yugi allowed himself a tiny smile at the news. "Yes, that's wonderful. But something's telling me that we didn't win it fair and square, since you're the one who entered."
Crimson eyes blinked innocently and adopted a hurt look. "I don't know what you're talking about. I always play fair." Then Yami smirked. "However, it was technically a game, and as I'm the King of Games .."
"Yami, that's cheating!"
"No, it's not! Lady Luck is just on my side, that's all." A winning smirk.
"That's still not very fair." Grumble.
"I did it for you!" Amethyst eyes looked up in surprise. Yami's voice softened a little as he continued. "Your birthday's coming up, and I know you've always wanted to go to London. So when I saw the advertisement in front of the KaibaCorp building, I couldn't help but enter." Long fingers gently brushed through the shorter boy's bangs. "Don't be angry?"
To his own chagrin, Yugi found himself melting a little at the tenderness in his other self's eyes. ".. you really did it just for me?"
"Of course."
And that was that. Yugi couldn't keep the brilliant smile off his face as he tackled Yami to the ground, hugging him tight enough to crack several ribs.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
The spirit laughed, a deep rich chuckle. He reached with one hand to ruffle Yugi's already tousled hair, watching with interest as the ebony and crimson strands tangled within his fingers. Tilting his head up just a little, he murmured softly, "You're quite welcome." His lips brushed against Yugi's earlobe - the faintest of touches, which nevertheless caused the shorter boy to squeak and pull himself up hurriedly.
Flushed pink, Yugi tried to clear his mind by pacing across the room. "Well, uhm, I should probably decide who's coming with us, shouldn't I?" He punctuated this statement with a nervous little laugh, something that failed to go unnoticed by the amused spirit still lying on the floor. "So there's Jou, obviously, and Honda and Anzu .. and I think Otogi would really like to come .. and Ryou and Malik-"
"Bakura and Malik?!" Yami looked stricken, something that caused his counterpart to giggle.
"Oh, relax, they're not quite as evil as they used to be, and they'll have loads of fun! And that's everyone, if we're assuming that you'll be in a separate body."
"Mm. I could stay inside the Puzzle if you like, so you can invite one more friend .."
Yugi hesitated to blink wide eyes at him. "But that's not fair, you won the trip in the first place and everything!"
Yami smiled at him. "It's alright. I don't mind at all. And it isn't as though I won't be experiencing everything you are, anyway."
He was rewarded with a beaming Yugi. "That's so nice of you, Yami! So uhm, if we've got Ryou and Malik and Jou and Honda and Otogi and Anzu, then the only person left is .. Kaiba!"
Yami stared.
Then he shut his eyes, counted to ten, and opened them only to stare at Yugi some more.
"I'm sorry, aibou. I must have misheard you. You can't possibly mean that you want to invite Seto Kaiba, the multibillionaire and our bitter rival .. not to mention the indirect provider of this trip in the first place."
"The very one!" Yugi chirped. Then he laughed at the expression on his darker half's face. "It'll be good for all of us, really! Being with a group for two weeks can do wonders for your patience, you know."
"It can also turn one into a raving lunatic - and that's assuming one isn't mad already." Yami turned puppy-dog eyes on his lighter half, an act which was downright dangerous when performed by small children (as well as Yugi and Ryou) but merely entertaining when attempted by a domineering former pharaoh. "Why can't we invite someone else? Like Shizuka, or Mai Kujaku, or Mokuba Kaiba even?"
"Uhm .. Shizuka and Mokuba are both taking classes all summer at the university, and Mai said she was going on some trip and wouldn't be back for a few months. Face it, Kaiba's pretty much the best choice. He's been with us through loads, anyway, and it'll be a nice change to see him when he's not stressing out over Duel Monsters or his company. Please, Yami?" Yugi aimed his puppy-dog eyes at Yami, but unlike his darker half's attempt, they were quite effective. One could practically see the spirit's resolve crumbling.
"If you really want to, then fine." Yami sighed, then mumbled to himself under his breath, "But for his sake, he'd better refuse the invitation."
"Great! I'll start calling everyone now!" Yugi hugged his counterpart once more and bounded up the stairs to his room. "This trip's going to be amazing!"
Sparkling ruby eyes followed the smaller boy's figure as he ran up the stairs and out of sight, and Yami's lips quirked into a smile. He wasn't sure if amazing would be the perfect word for the trip, but it was guaranteed to be interesting. 'Once-in-a-lifetime experience', indeed ..
A/N: So it begins! Haha. If any of you are reading this, I've got two questions. First, do you like the Japanese or American names? I chose Japanese for this story mainly because of Honda (who I'll absolutely never call Tristan), but if I wrote another story without Honda, which do you think would be better? Second, what would you like to see as the main pairings? At the moment I'm pretty set on Yami/Yugi, Seto/Jou, Otogi/Honda, Bakura/Ryou, and random parts for Anzu and Malik (I'll probably stick Malik with Bakura and Ryou, actually), but if there's a huge consensus on a different setup, then I'm willing to rethink it. And now this author's note is getting way too long, so - thanks for reading, and please review!