Hello everybody,
I got the idea for this story while I was learning in the library on valentines day, but I already knew that I wouldn't make it to upload this on the same day. So I took my time and finished this story before I uploaded it. It was planned as a One-Shot, but it got too long and now I'm publishing it as a short story. I don't know how many chapters it will have, maybe 2 or 3 + epilogue. I will think about this later :)
For those who are reading my other fic "Homecoming" - I'm nearly finished with the next 2 chapters, but I will continue to work on it after my last test at the beginning of april. I'm so sorry that I won't be able to upload earlier T_T
Thanks to the wonderful King of Doors for betareading 3 You helped me so much and gave me ideas and courage in writing, thank you! Check her storys out if you haven't by now - they are wonderful!
And now have fun reading!
Sunny
It was this day again. Every year it would return and it showed to you gracefully that you weren't as happy as some other people around you.
While I walked up to the classroom happy students passed me on the corridor; laughing, flirting, holding hands or exchanging little gifts. The school was decorated with lightly pink and red balloons and some lockers had small love letters attached to it. I would bet that most of them wouldn't have a name on them – so many don't want to let their crush know from who this letter was from.
It was Valentine's Day. And it sucked.
I entered my class and looked around. A small group of girls were giggling together over a badly written valentines card, while others sat in the back and where planning romantic activities with their significant others. Guys were shyly looking to the pretty girls and hoped that they won't be rejected.
And then there were those students like me and my friends that won't give anything to this day. Well… sort of.
"Welcome back, Yugi!" Anzu cheered as I walked up to my table. She looked at me with interesting eyes. "Received any love letters on the corridor?" I just snorted at her.
"As if…" I simply said and sat down next to my best friend. "Even if I they would've been giving them to me, it was only to take them to you" I said and looked at him.
He just shrugged. "And as every time, I would throw them away after reading them."
"Aw Yami, you're so mean! You're breaking hearts here, you know" said Honda who turned around and looked at him. "I would feel honored if I received a love letter! It means that someone is thinking more about you than anything else and-"
"Good morning class!" Mrs Imuchi said as she entered the room and interrupted Honda's lecture immediately. Some of my classmates groaned while others – mostly girls – chimed at her equally.
I was in the group who groaned.
"I hope you all brought your valentines cards with you!" she said and picked up a box and placed it on her table. "If so, please come up here one by one and throw them in. I hope you remembered the rules that you don't need to confess your undying love to somebody in this class, but merely give a compliment to them. So everybody will hear something nice on the day of lovers."
While she got out her list and read the names aloud I reached for my backpack. "How many cards have you written?" Yami whispered loudly as he looked at his envelope.
"I got two. Didn't feel like making more compliments. And you?" I said with a slightly shaking voice. If he would know…
"I only have one. But well – more than last year" he smirked as he looked at me. Right after that Mrs Imuchi read out his name and he went to the front to throw his envelope in the box.
The terms for this little "game" were easy. As she already explained it wasn't necessary to write a confession on the card. A small compliment was totally ok and it wasn't a big deal either. But to keep it still a secret the cards needed to be written on the computer; no one should recognize someone's handwriting. And to finally make sure that nobody would read his or her letter beforehand, everybody had to put their cards in a simple unaddressed envelope, so even Mrs Imuchi wouldn't know who gave whom which letter.
All in all it was a good strategy to give comfort to the authors and to the receivers.
But it was still a valentine's card.
"Mutou, Yugi" she read aloud and with slightly shaking hands I walked up to the front.
I didn't exactly lie as I told Yami that I didn't felt like making more compliments. In fact, I didn't write compliments.
The first letter was addressed to Anzu. I met her eyes just before I put my envelope into the box. With a silent sigh I watched as it reached the bottom and joined the other envelopes. I wrote her a… confession, but not one you normally get on a valentine's day.
'I used to have a crush on you. But now you're a really close friend and I'm happy to be called one of yours too.'
Right, I HAD a crush on her. But after the events of the last years I'm quite sure it was gone.
Someone… new stole my heart. And it was bigger than my crush I had on her.
I looked at my current crush as I turned around and walked back to my table. He smiled and winked at me. I smiled back, but within me a small storm of fluffy feelings broke loose; like every time I looked at you.
It all started when Yami and his father moved to Domino after his mother passed away. His father and my grandpa were close friends and also did some research together as the Sennens still lived in Egypt. When I was a child, my parents travelled along with my grandpa and we lived some days with the Sennens. There I met Yami.
A little bit bigger and older, he teased me here and there, but was also protecting me when we were at the market or outside the house. "Keep care of him like he is your younger brother" his father Aknamkanon told him back then, and he did. After we left Egypt the contact never really broke, but ironically it died down as his family was moving to Japan after his mother got sick. My grandpa visited them as much as it was possible, but they lived near Tokyo and it was difficult for him to travel there. At the beginning, I wasn't interested in visiting them; I liked to play games more. But as it was a sad truth that Yami's mother would die my grandpa brought me to accompany him. It was nearly 12 years after I last saw him, and I was overwhelmed by what he had become. I had never believed in love at first sight, but here I witnessed it.
I tried to surpass my crush; Yami was going through a really hard time preparing for his mother's death and I just wanted to be there for him. At his first glance he didn't recognized me, later telling me that I look more mature then he expected. His teasing here and there never ended, and never changed.
From that day on we became inseparable. I introduced him to the game 'Duel Monsters' and we played as much as we could. Every time I visited him he challenged me to a duel, showing me his new cards and discussing strategies with me. We also played other games, or went out to the arcade and got something to eat. But we never were out long, so we could spend some time with his family. And when gramps and me drove home, we stayed in contact over the phone. Because of his situation Yami had a tutor at home, so he would be there if anything would happen. For him it wasn't a problem to write a message or call me during brakes if he wanted to speak with me. For me it often ended that I needed to pick up my phone after class from the teacher's desk…
It changed though when his mother needed to stay in hospital. When we visited, we stayed all the time there, chatting and dueling in the waiting area or eating all together at his mother's hospital bed. We tried to be positive around her when she was weak and tried to help as much as we can. Yami and I stayed behind, playing a small game with her or watched a movie on TV while my grandpa and Aknamkanon went back to their apartment to look after it. In the evening Yami read to his mother her favorite novels, lulling her to sleep. I caught myself too often to fall in a trancelike state, admiring his smooth voice and get lost in dreamland. But I didn't allow me this much; being with his dead sick mother and him in one room I felt uncomfortable to have such daydreams. The nights were now the only time where we stayed at the Sennens. While I slept with Yami in one room, my grandpa resided in the guestroom. I noticed that Yami couldn't sleep much in those nights, having nightmares or dark thoughts running through his head. He shared them with me, and we talked until dawn about the inevitable, or how my parents died some years after their last visit to Egypt. To loosen the atmosphere, we talked about games, movies or I told him something about my friends. Even when we needed to go back to Domino he sometimes called during the night, seeking comfort and distraction from this darkness building up in his heart. It broke my heart every time I realized he had been crying or was still sobbing on the phone. It left me with a longing to hug him – even if it reminds me of my dark times.
One day I got an invitation for a Duel Monsters tournament. By now Yami was equal to my skill, not losing that often anymore and playing more and more draws. I was allowed to bring one more duelist with me, but he declined because of his mother.
"I will watch on TV how you defend your title, aibou" he said with a sad smile as I travelled to Duelist Kingdom with Jounouchi and my other friends as backup.
Shortly after the tournament, his mother died. Because of the new development of our friendships – not only me and Yami became close, but also Aknamkanon and my grandpa - she was buried at the graveyard in Domino, for it was clear that the Sennens would move here. The funeral was still hard, even if they knew that this day would come, but the Sennens stood there strong together; me and grandpa not far away from them.
The moving happened around Christmas two years ago. After that, I couldn't help myself anymore… I tried everything to forget my feelings for him; forced them on Anzu and hoping that Yami would only be my best friend. But nothing helped. We were basically glued to each other together every minute of the day; to see one of us alone was nearly impossible. He wanted to attend my High School and luckily it worked. We shared the same classes and activities, and if I wasn't seen with him I was asked if something bad had happened. After school, he would come to my place if grandpa needed help with the shop or we would stay at his place to play and learn. Either he was sleeping at my place or vice versa. Aknamkanon and my grandpa did their jokes that we should move in altogether, so we won't need to separate ever again.
Did it sound funny when I say that I really liked that idea?
Jounouchi was a bit jealous of how much time I spent with Yami, telling me that I was his best bud, but would rather hang out with Yami than him. But after some time and especially some group activities, Yami was introduced into the gang and welcomed as a dear friend.
But not for me. After all this time, he grew into something more. I failed in ignoring my crush for him, and it increased with every day I saw him smile, hear him laugh, felt him near…
Lately he appeared in a dream for the first time. It was a pleasant dream and it made me incredible happy – until I woke up and realized, that he wasn't my lover, even if he was lying next to me. I believed it was the first time I cried over him. As he saw me like this I lied, telling him it was a nightmare. He comforted me and held me in his arms…
The next night he appeared again, and I didn't cry visibly after I woke up. My insides twisted from the bittersweet feeling those dreams caused. I wasn't sure if I wanted them to stop or not…
'You're haunting my dreams and I don't want to wake up'
We shared one last look after I sat down before Mrs Imuchi started class.
