- Chapter 2 -

I want to thank Hikari-Tart with the cute puppy picture in this pre-chapter babbling, because it is actually the very first review I received ever (and I'll respond to you shortly). I was pretty scared it would be negative, but it was so nice it activated my Motivation Card's special effect. Behold its power below.


But for a while, it all made sense

It might have been just a dark pretence

But you had me… and I loved it.

- Røyksopp, Sordid Affair


"What's that you say, you want to go to Egypt?" Grandpa asked me in surprise when I asked him about the possibilities that Saturday morning.

"If you'd let us, I think it would be good to let Yami see his home after so long." I explained.

"Hmm, I see."

"I know it's not cheap, but I can probably get most of the money together with a part time job." I said with determination.

Grandpa laid a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me.

"You're a kind person, Yugi. But I don't think it's necessary for you to work for this trip." He said. "I was already planning to go there myself this autumn because I've been asked to give a lecture about my archaeological findings there to transfer my knowledge to the next generation. My plane ticket and hotel will be paid by the University of Caïro. I'll see if I can pull some strings. I don't think it should be a problem. Consider it done."

"Really? That's awesome grandpa!" I said with a bit of disbelief. "You think we can come and hear your lecture too?"

"Of course Yugi. Just don't forget to get the right clothing for the weather conditions. Just because we'll be there in autumn doesn't mean it will be cold. The desert will be 40 degrees Celsius during the day at the very least, and even that is considered a cold day."

"I know Grandpa. Thank you so much!" I did know, he has told me so many times before how hot it was in Egypt.

"I'll let you know more about the trip once I've settled everything." He said. I knew he had to go to watch the game shop.

"You're the best, Grandpa!"

"Hohoho, now that's what I like to hear." He said while walking out of the backroom to the shop.

I didn't know how fast I had to run up the stairs to tell Yami about it. Once I got to his door, I knocked on it. "Yami?"

He didn't answer, maybe he was still asleep, even though it was already eleven. He can be quiet lazy when he gets the chance. Since it was time for him to wake up anyway, I decided to let myself in.

As I expected, he was indeed still sleeping soundly, all rolled up in the covers to his neck up in the heat of summer, even with the sun glowing through the curtains and breaking through them with half the power. I walked over to him and sat on the edge of his bed, trying the soft waking up approach first. He had his head turned to the wall as though to shut out all nuisance.

"Wake up, Yami." I said softly. "Time to face the day."

"Hn." Yami mumbled something. If he wasn't still sleeping, he was at least still half-asleep.

"Come on, Yami. I have news." I said a little louder.

No response. So I shook his shoulder lightly through the blanket. "Yami."

"Hm?"

Was that an answer?

"Are you awake?"

"Why yes." He said with his head still turned to the wall, not moving an inch.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?!" I said a little agitated.

"I thought I could get a few more minutes."

I sighed. "Are you that tired?"

He sighed too, sitting up straight and running a hand through his hair. The blanket fell off him, revealing his naked torso. A blush crept to my cheeks before I could help it, but it wasn't anything I hadn't seen before. Those subtle muscles always got to me, though.

"A little bit." He said, turning his face to me, his eyes sharper due to him just waking up.

"Well, it did get pretty late yesterday." I said.

"You said you had news?" Yami asked. "About what?"

"Right!" I said, suddenly getting my enthusiasm back. "I talked to grandpa this morning. We're going to Egypt this autumn!"

Surprise was written all over his face. "But how?"

"Grandpa was going there anyway to give a lecture. He can get us to go with him!"

Yami smiled. "You're amazing, Yugi. I'm looking forward to it."

I felt so happy I could hardly contain it, because I know how important this is to him.

"Well, don't thank me. Thank Grandpa later." I said.

"I will." He said with a smile.

"Oh, that reminds me." I said. "We need to get the right clothes to stand the heat of the desert. What do you say about going shopping today to get in the mood?"

"Alright." He said. "Sounds like a plan. I just need to get ready."

Without warning, he swatted his blanket aside and got up from his bed. Luckily for me, he was wearing pants. I laughed out loud because they had tiny Kuribohs on them.

"Ah, I take it you like the pants." He smiled at me.

"Hahaha. Of course I do." I continued laughing.

Suddenly, he began stretching himself with his arms raised over his head. I felt my face heating up for the second time that morning and decided that was enough excitement so early in the day.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Let me know when you're ready." I said before he could take a look at my face properly.


So it appears we really are going to Egypt. Yugi truly is amazing and a man of his words. I didn't expect him to arrange a trip so soon after his words last night. He is kind and very considerate. I don't even know how I would ever repay his or his grandfathers kindness.

With that said, I am looking forward to the trip, but I have to admit that it also scares me a little. I don't know what I expect to find there. I'm not sure yet how to tell Yugi this, and I certainly don't want him to think that I am ungrateful for his effort to help me with my troubles. But I shouldn't let these thoughts cloud me at the moment since Yugi is so enthusiastic about going clothes shopping. I need to be there for him now, instead of selfishly thinking about myself all the time. I'll deal with it later. Yugi and I are walking through the mall at the moment, and I'll just focus on that for now.

"It looks great on you!" Yugi said. "And it looks comfortable too."

"It is comfortable indeed. And entirely made of linen, the fabric the Egyptians wore to withstand the heat." I said. "I think I'll get this."

"Good choice!" He said as he smiled at me. Sometimes he's too cute for words with that smile of his.

"Are you not getting anything from here?" I said, quirking an eyebrow.

"Hm. I didn't really see anything I liked. Let's go to Kochi's after this. They usually have something that suits me."

"I see." I said, not really knowing any of these stores. I must have been there before, but I never seem to get the hang of all the names of the shops.

When we had paid for my clothes, we went into the so called Kochi store he spoke about earlier, and Yugi almost immediately found several items he liked. I did too after a while, and I wondered why we didn't go into this store first thing.

Well, maybe it was because it was so crowded. Make that a definitely. We surely found out how crowded it was exactly once we stood in line for the fitting rooms, and the line moved so slowly even a snail would be bored by it's speed.

When it was our turn, Yugi turned to me.

"You can go first if you like, you have less items anyway." He said.

"But you'd have to stand in line longer, and I won't know what room you're in when I get out." I said. I heard a cough behind us from one of the inpatient people in line. We had to be faster to decide. Then suddenly I got an idea. "Let's share one."

"Wh-what?" Yugi said a little flustered.

"Come on, it will be easier for us that way." I said as I dragged him in the vacant cubicle, relieving some of everybody's chagrin still standing in line.

The cubicle was obviously not meant for two people and we were standing pretty close together.

"Yami, I'm not sure if this is a good idea." Yugi said to me. "It's kind of cramped in here."

"It seems alright to me." I said as I started to take off my boots with some struggle, but nothing serious. Well, I did have to try my best not to kick him in the process, but I managed just fine.

Yugi seemed to still dislike the idea, but went and took off his boots anyway. "Alright" He sighed, "I guess it's better than standing in line anyway."

When he got to his pants and his shirt, he turned away from me and started unbuttoning his shirt. From behind, I saw his ears were bright red. He was obviously uncomfortable.

"Is this embarrassing for you?" I said, taking off my own shirt.

"Pff, of course not." He said. That's a yes. I know he's uncomfortable, but I like having him here too much to call it off. Besides, I haven't seen him naked, let alone shirtless ever since I got out of the puzzle.

I unbuckled my belt and got out of my pants, then put on some very light weighted pants. They felt so comfortable I could stay in them forever. And they didn't look bad on me either judging from the mirror. I smiled.

"I like these pants." I said. "What do you think?"

I saw Yugi turning around to see me through the mirror. He frowned and blushed almost immediately. I couldn't get my eyes off him. He had such a slim frame and his skin was flawless, just like I remembered.

"Geez Yami, put on a shirt." He said, scratching his head.

"I could tell you the same." I said, not losing my smile. "What do you think?" Ignoring further complaints.

"They eh, look nice on you." Yugi said.

"Thank you." I said, grinning. "I thought so too."

After that, I also quickly put on a shirt. It matched the pants quiet well, which meant I had two sets of clothing. Seems enough. I guess I'm done picking clothes early.

Yugi on the other hand had still not put anything on yet. He had turned away from me again when he had started to remove his pants, and from this angle I could see his bare legs perfectly.

When he had finally managed to put on his clothes, he kept swinging his arms behind his neck.

"There's something not right about this shirt." He said.

"It's probably just the tag, let me see." I said.

Yugi turned around and as I thought, the tag was stuck between his shirt and his neck.

"It is, I'll fix it." I said. I took the tag with one hand and used my other hand to create space between his back and the shirt to tug it in. When I did, I couldn't help but brushing my fingers along his neck just a little bit. His skin felt smooth and warm and I fought the urge to run my fingers along the same line again.

"All set." I said. "Turn around."

He did so and his face was still flushed like before. He looked nice, but it was almost hard to tell if it was because of his flushed face or the clothing.

"You look nice, but I think it looks a little to stuck up with all the buttons done." I said. "Here, let me help." I took a small step forward and started undoing two buttons.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Yugi asked his eyes were big and he looked startled. In response, he took a step back with his left foot, which seemed to land on one of his boots, making him fall backwards.

"Watch out!" I said, and in a reflex, I caught him and pulled him towards me.

Now his and my body were flush against each other. I felt my heart racing and hoped furiously that he couldn't feel it through the thin fabrics we were wearing. We stood there still for a moment, neither of us saying a word. It was only after a few seconds that I realized my leg was between his, and I felt something hard pressing against it. That meant-

"Yugi…" I said.

He pushed himself away from me, and I will never forget the look in his eyes when he met my eyes. It was an expression I couldn't place, but I knew it was not good. I could see tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

"Yugi, it's okay." I said as gently as I could.

"This is so embarrassing." He said, placing a hand in front of his eyes. "I can't believe this."

"Don't feel bad Yugi," I said, trying to comfort him. "I'm a man too, I know it sometimes just happens without a reason."

He turned away from me again and started to undo his shirt.

"Right." He said. "Let's get out of here."

Now I felt bad too, it must be because I was too rash. We'd better get out of here and do something else. Maybe it will cheer him up, but I'll try talking to him later on when he's not feeling as bad. I hurt him, and I should really watch what I'm doing more closely.

After we coincidentally met up with Anzu, Jounouchi and Honda on our way back home and went to an arcade, I finally started to feel a little bit better. I still didn't look Yami directly in the eye the rest of the afternoon, and maybe that was for the better. I need to get it out of my head. I could hardly help feeling so bad, even though I tried to console myself with the thought that Yami didn't feel disgusted and that he even tried to comfort me when I felt bad. Over the last few hours, that seemed to help a little bit.

In fact, I felt so bad that I was extra motivated to immerse myself into games like Tekken. And when I played against Jounouchi, I didn't let him win a single match. I still lost a race game against Yami, but being king of games, he has a title to hold up anyway. He wouldn't let me win out of pity and I'm glad he didn't.

We ate burgers at Burgerworld afterwards, and it turned out to be a very lively dinner.

"Still Yuug, ya totally creamed me today!" Jounouchi said in defeat.

"I've just been playing a little longer than you Jou." I said.

"Yeah, Jou, better practice a little more." Honda said to tease him.

"By the way," Anzu started, trying to change the conversation since we had been talking about games non stop. "What were you two doing at the mall anyway?"

"We were buying some clothes for our trip this autumn." I said.

"Oh? Where ya goin' Yuug?" Jounouchi asked.

"We're going to Egypt. My grandfather is arranging the trip."

"To Egypt huh." Anzu said pondering. "I bet you want to see it after so long, don't you Yami?"

"Yes, I do. Yugi and his grandfather are very kind to give me the opportunity." Yami said.

"I bet. I guess Yugi's grandfather has a lot of connections in Egypt since he was an archaeologist there." She said. "Any ideas of what you're going to see?"

"I bet we're at least going to visit the Valley of the Kings, since that is where Grandpa did most of his excavations. But from there on, we'll probably just see what comes up." I said.

"Woah, that's so cool." Jounouchi said. "Valley of da Kings."

"Cool? When you say it, it sounds more like an album from Valley of da Hood, Jou." Honda teased Jounouchi.

"Shaddup Honda." He said, stealing a fry from the brunette's plate.

"Hey that's mine!" Honda said in vain as Jounouchi put it in his mouth.

"Sorry, you gotta pay for your sorry comment right there." Jounouchi said while loudly smacking on his fry to annoy Honda.

"Boys." Anzu said sternly with a sigh. "Anyway, it sounds like a big thing. Be sure to tell me how it was when you get back." She said more calmly to us.

"We sure will." I said.

Walking home, Yami was occupied talking to Jounouchi about their game matches to come while I was walking behind them with Anzu. It was already getting pretty late, it must be around ten since it was getting dark.

"Yugi." Anzu said.

"Yes Anzu?" I asked.

"You really love him, don't you." It was more a statement than a question.

"Wh-what?" I asked in surprise. How did she know?

"Relax." She said. "I don't think the rest noticed. But you stare at him an awful lot you know."

"I see…"

"It's really nice of you what you're doing, Yugi." Anzu continued. "You take him into consideration all the time. He'd be a fool if he didn't love you back."

"That's really nice of you to say Anzu." I said.

"Does he know?" She asked.

"No. I haven't told him."

"Are you planning to?"

"I don't know if it's that simple. If he doesn't feel the same way, I might lose him."

"I see what you mean." She said. "Maybe that's true, but I think it's unlikely. You two would probably find a way around it, and besides, not being able to tell your feelings can be equally painful."

"You have a point there Anzu."

"Hehe, thanks." She said. "Tell me when you first started feeling this way."

And so I told someone for the very first time how I truly felt, and I understood once more the true value of friendship. It was as though a huge weight fell of my shoulders and the worst case scenarios I had kept playing over and over in my head were exaggerated. I realized that even if things wouldn't work out, I would never be alone. And as I looked over at Yami again, I know that he wouldn't be either.


Author's notes:

Eleven in the morning seemed like a reasonable time for an odd shop to open on a Saturday.

Also, I don't want to make Yami or Yugi too perfect. It would get boring to write anyway. And I have to admit that I like a bit of attitude.

Anyway, I realize this chapter was a little less about the inner workings of both parties and a tad more... you know what I mean. But I think it's nice to mix it up a little. Also, I realized there were a few spelling mistakes in the previous chapter, and there probably will be some in this one too. Notice how I spelled "too" with two o's. Notice it senpai.

Furthermore, I already got a bit more typed out, but I think I'll keep that card face-down until the next chapter. It will be up next weekend. I would prefer it sooner but I've got a busy week coming up.

Thank you for reading so far and have a nice week.