After he had had that little talk with Jounouchi, he noticed that the sun had already begun to sink. They quickly said their goodbyes and Yami went back to school for a little. When he got home, he heard his parents talking happily with each other from the other side of the wall that separated the hall and the living room. He closed the door behind him and let his bag slip over his shoulder so it could land on the floor. His hands started untying the scarf around his neck and he quitely looked around the corner to see his parents sitting in the living room, smiling at each other.
His beautiful mother, Elena, with dark hair that reached her thin shoulders and violet eyes, was telling her husband a story. His handsome father, Aknamkanon, was holding back his laughter with tears in his dark green eyes, his brown shaking along with his head. When Elena had finished her little story, they both burst out laughing, leaning on the chairs to keep themselves from falling on the carpeted floor.
Yami could not help but smile at the sight. He loved the way his parents never got into fights and were still madly in love with each other after all those years. He slowly unbuttoned his coat, not wanting to interrupt his parents' small moment. He knew they barely had these conversations with each other, both of his parents had a very busy life. Elena was one of the best lawyers in the country, it was completely normal that she would receive at least ten phone calls a day and had to run out the door to help a client. His father was the typical businessman who ran his own, very successful, company, this was why he constantly had to leave for business trips and sometimes had to take his wife with him to help him.
Once Yami had hung up his coat, he heard his father say something between his laughter.
"I can't believe she still had them!" He snickered and walked into the living room, leaning against the wall. His mother looked like a teenage girl, her pale cheeks had a rosy glow and her eyes glistened with tears of joy. The girly giggles that came out of her mouth made her sound at least ten years younger. She had never looked old in Yami's eyes, she acted like a mature woman, but sometimes she had those little childish moments that made him smile at the thought.
"Good evening," he said casually, interrupting their laughter. Both of them wiped at their eyes and looked up to see their son standing there. "What's so funny?" Elena carefully pushed herself up from the huge red chair she was sitting in and brushed his bangs out of his face with a small smile on her lips to greet him.
"Welcome home and you don't want to know, love. Believe me," she said, still smiling. Yami raised his eyebrows before he took a seat next to his father on the couch. Elena followed him back and sat on the arm of the couch next to her husband. Aknamkanon put his hand on her knee, absently caressing it.
"Try me," Yami said with a smirk. Elena shook her head defiantly, reaching for Aknamkanon's fingers and squeezing them.
"Maybe later, Yami." Yami sighed and leaned against the back of the dark green velvet couch. Aknamkanon put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close so Yami was leaning against his shoulder. He lightly leaned towards his father's chest to get more comfortable and closed his eyes. After a while, he felt the vibration of Aknmankon's chest as he started speaking.
"So, how was your day, son?" Yami turned his head upwards so he could look at him and saw the warm smile his father was giving him. He smiled back and sadly noticed that he could not get the words past his lips. He trusted his parents, he always told them everything, except when it came to real personal things, that was when he talked to Jounouchi, and now he had not even told Jounouchi about the incident in the restroom. Instead of telling the truth, he looked back at the wall large television that was in front of them and folded his arms over his chest.
"Nothing to report," he muttered softly. Elena looked at them, blinking a couple of times before she muttered something about dinner and went to the kitchen. Aknamkanon just shrugged and reached for the book that was laying on its side on the table in front of the couch. He put his reading glasses on and started reading the book with one hand, the other hand still resting comfortable on his son's shoulder. Yami looked at his hands, still debating in his head wether he should tell them, or not. He carefully stood up, putting Aknamkanon's arm over his head and followed his mother's steps to the kitchen. "Mom?"
Elena turned to him with that typical kind smile of hers. Yami opened his mouth, but his mind stopped him from telling her. He could not do it, his instincts told him it was best if he kept it a secret for a little while longer. Besides, his parents had enough to worry about, his mother would probably not believe him, or would be in shock. He closed his mouth again and shook his head, smiling sheepishly.
"Nothing. Never mind," he said softly. Elena's eyes softened, she put her kitchen tools back on the kitchen dresser and walked up to him so she could gentle run the back of her fingers over his cheek. It was a small habit that she had developed over the years, Yami never knew what to think of it, he always felt like leaning into the small touch, but he would not let himself.
"Alright, but if you need me you know where to find me, right?" Yami nodded in response, looking at his feet so he could avoid her eyes. She planted a small kiss on the place where she had been caressing him and put her hands on his chest, playfully pushing him out of the kitchen. "Now, I'm sure you have a lot of homework. Dinner will be ready in an hour. Oh and don't forget, your father and I have to go to a meeting tonight." Yami nodded, grinning.
"I know, you told me that yesterday." Elena chuckled and closed the door between the kitchen and the living room so she could begin. Yami went back to the hall, grabbed his bag and went upstairs to his room. Aknamkanon nodded approvingly at Yami, which he returned with a small shake of his head. Both of his parents were pretty strict when it came to school work. The very first day of high school had been hard for Yami, he had to work hard for his grades and ever since, his parents expected him to work hard for school. The small trip to his room was not very long, but not very short, either. Since his parents had very well-paid jobs, he lived in one of the biggest houses in Domino City. After he had climbed the stairs, he had to walk to the very end of the hallway to reach his room. His wooden door was slightly open, just like he had left it that morning (he had not bothered to close it), and gave it a small push with his shoulder.
When he had locked the door behind him, his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He threw his bag onto his bed, that was on the other side of the room and reached for his pocket. He flipped his phone open and read the display, seeing that it was Jounouchi. Letting out a small chuckle, he pressed the green button and held the device against his ear.
"That was quick." His friend laughed on the other side.
"Well, what did you expect?" Yami shook his head to himself as he walked to his desk and sat down on it. He reached for his windows and closed it, his desk and books had gotten a bit wet because of the never ending rain and he could not appreciate that. After that, he closed to curtains and put on his desk light.
"So, you know the plan, right?" It was silent on the other side, Yami could imagine him rolling his eyes, or something else to show how offended he was.
"Yes, of course I do. I'll be there at nine."
"Good, I really need to do this, Jounouchi-kun."
"Of course, bud. I was just wondering why you didn't ask Mai. You always get along pretty well and I'm sure she wouldn't mind to do it for you. Even though she can be rather suspicious about certain things." Yami's eyes darted to the ground, he swung one of his legs back and forth a bit, trying to distract himself. Asking Miss Kujaku to do this for him would be very risky, she was already on to something, he did not want it to go further than that. Instead of asking her, he had asked some of his other teachers and got disappointed over and over again.
"Already did. They won't give it to me, it was pretty pointless to ask. I do understand why they were so stubborn, though. That's why we need to do this." He heard Jounouchi sigh on the other side and clear his throat.
"Well, alright. I'll see you in a few hours, then." Yami reminded him of something important, which Jounouchi responded with a grunt and hung up. He chuckled and put his phone on his desk in case he would receive another call. He got up from his desk so he could grab his bag and get his books out. With a small sigh, he started studying for the upcoming test Miss Kujaku had reminded them of. English was not one of the subjects he was really good at, he had always had some trouble with the grammar and letters. The minutes ticked by, time went by so quickly that it was as if the bright red numbers on his alarm clock were dancing. He was so focused on his work that Elena's voice almost made him jump out of his skin.
"Dinner's ready!" After practically falling out of his chair, Yami unlocked his door and went downstairs. His parents were waiting for him and smiled when he entered the dining room. His father sat at the head of the table as usual, and Elena sat at the end. "There you are, dear. You don't mind cleaning the kitchen, do you? Aknamkanon and I have to leave early, we won't have time for it, anymore." Yami let out a small annoyed grunt, taking a seat between them.
"No, I don't mind." Elena chuckled and gave Yami a wink before all of them started eating. Dinner was rather quiet, usually everyone would talk about their day or talk about an event that was coming up. After all, living the busy lives his parents lived, there was always something to talk about. But now, it looked like Elena and Aknamkanon were both trying to break a world record by eating their dinner as fast as they could. Yami decided to break the silence and loudly cleared his throat to gain their attention.
Aknamkanon looked up from his plate, answering him with a small, "Hm?" Yami frowned and gave a nod toward his mother who was eating like there was no tomorrow. If Yami had not known better, he would have thought she was going to choke any moment. His father merely shrugged and continued eating just as fast. Yami decided to drop the subject now that he knew he was not going to get an answer.
"Finished!" Yami almost dropped his fork when his mother suddenly stood up after a few minutes of complete silence. "Aknamkanon, we have to go. We can't be late." Aknamkanon nodded and handed her his empty plate. Elena took Yami's plate, too and placed them in the sink, even though Yami had barely finished it. Elene gave him a kiss on his forehead and Aknamkanon gave him a loud smack on his shoulder.
"We'll be back around twelve, don't wait up, Yami. You need your sleep for school." Elena gave him another kiss before they grabbed their bags and left. When they closed the door, it was as if it was even quieter than a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, Yami was used to it, so without complaint, he stood up and started bringing the other plates to the sink. After he had cleaned the table, he started putting the plates, cups and everything else in the dishwasher. Everything that did not fit was left in the sink, which was already filled with warm water and soap. The clock that was hanging on the wall above the fridge told him that he still had a little over an hour before Jounouchi would arrive.
His mother had forgotten to close to the curtains before she left, Yami looked out of the window and saw that it was still raining. It had even gotten worse, loud thunder rolls came from the dark sky and sudden white flashes caused goosebumps to appear on his skin. He put the towel and the dishes down and grabbed the end of the curtain so he could cover up the window. Just when his hands went back to the towel, he heard a loud crash above his head.
"This is not so good," he mumbled to himself. He quickly finished cleaning the kitchen, grabbed a small knife and headed upstairs to finish his homework. After a while, he noticed that the words in the book were twirling in front of his tired eyes, so he gave up and started unbuttoning his shirt so he could change. He threw his closet open and walked in, the large white room was filled with tons of clothes that his mother had given him over the years. At least she had good taste and barely gave Yami something that he would never wear during the weekends. He searched for some black clothes and put them on, he even put on a small black cap, too to cover up his wild hair.
He grabbed a flashlight and the knife he had brought with him to put it in his other bag. He was sitting on his knees, zipping up his bag when his phone started vibrating again. Yami flew from the ground and reached for his phone so he could flip it open. He did not even have the chance to say something as the person on the other side started yelling at him.
"If your parents are still home, let me hide in your closet, or something, because I'm soaked!" Yami could not contain his laughter at his friend's complaint and turned the lights off in his room and in the hallway. He went downstairs and opened the door to reveal a very drenched Jounouchi who was holding his phone next to his ear. The rain was dripping from his nose and his blond hair was sticking to his wet face. Yami put the phone in his pocket and stepped aside so Jounouchi could enter his house. His friend was still in his normal clothes, they were completely wet, but he had brought a little plastic bag with him which was still dry.
"I hate you for this. I can't believe I came all the way over here!" Jounouchi took off his wet clothes and started changing into the black clothes, like Yami had instructed him to do. Yami snickered, closing the door when he walked over to Jounouchi, who was glaring daggers at him, but Yami shrugged it off. He knew Jounouchi could never stay mad at him, even if he wanted to do, and getting wet because of the rain for your best friend was not that bad in his eyes. Though, he did feel bad when he saw that Jounouchi was shivering after he had taken off his pants and shirt, his skin was bright red.
"I'm sorry I made you do that, I'm really grateful for this, Jounouchi-kun. You know that I can't do this alone," Yami said softly with a sheepish smile. Jounouchi grinned and snatched Yami's cap from his head. He tried to get it back, but failed miserably, this was one of the things that Yami truly hated about himself. He was pretty small for the average 16-year-old teenager, Jounouchi often used to his advantage, such as holding the hat above his head so Yami could not even brush the tips of his fingers over it. Apparently this little thing had cheered Jounouchi up, Yami thought that his friend's smirk was going to make his face split in two.
"Why do you want it so badly, Yami? I mean, what are you going to do with it?" Yami finally managed to get his cap back and helped Jounouchi with his clothes. He was almost done, which was good, they had no time to lose.
"I'll explain everything later, Jounouchi-kun. Don't worry," Yami said with a smile. Jounouchi stared at him, until he pursed his lips and turned away so he could put on his leather jacket, muttering a small approval under his breath. "Thank you." Yami turned to close all of the curtains in the living room and turned his head over his shoulder when the other started talking again.
"Aren't your parents around? I didn't ring the doorbell because I thought they were still here." Yami walked around to make sure he had closed every curtain on this floor and then started turning off the lights. It became so dark after he had turned off a couple of lights that he could barely see what he was doing.
"No, that's why I want to do it now. I knew my parents had an important meeting tonight, meaning they were not going to be home." He left the lights in the hall alone so they could still look at each other. Yami walked to the stairs and checked upstairs if all the lights were turned off. "What did you tell yours?" Jounouchi still had not answered when Yami walked back to the hall to face him, his ears had gone red, though.
"I told them I was going to some nightclub with you." Yami frowned. They had never even gone to a nightclub in their entire lives. Jounouchi loved going out in his free time, but never dragged Yami with him, mainly because Yami was more of an indoor person. Yami could not imagine his best friend in a nightclub, it would be very... wrong.
"And they believed that?" he asked incredulously. Jounouchi's lips moved upwards until they formed a grin that almost reached his eyes. He leaned forward, with his hands behind his back and winked at him.
"Of course they did. They know I'm single," he said. Yami chuckled at the odd remark, he could not believe Jounouchi had actually said that out loud. He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. They had no more time to lose.
"Come on, let's go. If the rain's gonna keep up like this, we'll have to bring an umbrella with us."
"No shit, Sherlock," Jounouchi said, grabbing one of the umbrellas from the umbrella stand. Then, he turned to Yami who was now grabbing the keys. "Wait, I saw one of your parents' cars, why don't we just drive?" Yami opened the door and pushed Jounouchi out of his house with a small roll of his eyes. He locked the door behind him, and turned off the light that was above their front door.
"Firstly, neither of us knows how to drive. Secondly," he turned around and grabbed the umbrella from the other's hands. "don't you think someone will notice us if we parked a car in front of the school?" Jounouchi hung in his head and followed Yami towards the road.
"You're right, I forgot," he mumbled awkwardly. Unfortunately, Jounouchi had grabbed one of the smallest umbrellas that his mother always used to walk to her car, it was barely enough to cover up one person, let alone two rather broad teenage boys. Jounouch was practically pressing his body against Yami's to avoid the huge raindrops and Yami was not quite used to this kind of contact.
"Why did you grab our smallest umbrella, Jounouchi-kun?" Yami grumbled. He felt Jou's nervous chuckle in the back of his neck, he shivered, as if it was not cold enough outside.
"It was too dark to see them, Yami. Stop sulking," he defended lamely. He decided to drop the pointless subject and let it slip, it was not that bad, after all. The rain was pounding loudly on their umbrella and the flashes were making Jounouchi jump every now and then. They had to walk slowly to make sure neither of them would get wet, Yami had hoped that he would never have to take these 'baby-steps' ever again, but he swallowed his pride and let it happen.
After what felt like an eternity to Yami, they were finally standing in front of the doors of their school. The umbrella looked like it was going to break any second, at least they were still dry, the baby-steps were not for nothing. Jounouchi took the knife from Yami's bag and put the tip of the blade into the lock, trying to force it open. Yami was looking around the corners to be sure nobody was watching them; there was no one except for a black cat that was looking for shelter. He turned back to Jounouchi who was still struggling with the lock.
"And you told me you were good at this kind of stuff?" Yami retorted dryly after he had blinked a couple of times. Jounouchi sighed through his nose and shot him a look that almost made Yami flinch.
"Stop mocking me and help me." Yami grinned and placed his hand on the knife, twisting it around for a while. He felt that he was touching something with the tip, and kept turning it to the left until they heard a soft click. "Finally! Told you I was good at this stuff." Yami shook his head, snickering and shoved Jounouchi inside. They grabbed their flashlights and turned them on, revealing the deserted hallway, just like Yami had hoped. He turned to Jounouchi, who was looking rather nervous.
"Let's go look in the teacher's lounge, I'm sure we will find something there," Yami said, grabbing the fabric of Jounouchi's shirt and dragging him toward the lounge. Jounouchi struggled a bit, not liking the idea of being dragged, but stopped when Yami shot him a fierce glare. He still had the knife in his other hand and started working on the lock again as soon as they had reached the teacher's lounge. Yami was keeping a lookout for any signs of life, but they were alone still.
"It's open," Jounouchi whispered after a small while. He gave the door a small push, it gave a loud creak, Yami was truly grateful that no one else was there to hear it. Jounouchi walked into the room and looked around the corners, beckoning Yami to follow him. "You know, Yami. I really like you, you're really cool and stuff, but to go to school at night just for some stupid yearbook edition is completely insane." Yami followed him, closing the door quietly behind him.
"I know it sounds silly, but trust me, it's really important, and don't forget, I want to look for the files, too." They walked around for a while with their flashlights rapidly moving around to look for the other yearbook editions. There was not a lot to see in the lounge, there was a large table which was surrounded by a numerous amount of chairs. An old coffee machine was in the corner, it looked a bit dusty, but still good enough to use. There were several bookcases in the back of the large room, along with a couple of cupboards and drawers. Jounouchi started groaning after a couple of minutes and he walked to the door, leaning on the wood with his right shoulder. Yami kept looking, he was determined to find answers, if his teachers were not going to give him any, then he had to do it himself.
"Can't we just turn on the lights? My eyes are getting tired, I'm sure it'll be a lot easier that way." Jounouchi reached for the light switch and Yami was just in time to stop him by grabbing his wrist in a firm, yet gentle grip.
"No! I don't want to get caught!"
"Yami, nobody's here! Who's gonna catch us, the mice?"
"What if there is someone here and they see light coming from this room? I don't want to take any risks, okay?" Jounouchi pulled his wrist out of Yami's grip, giving him an odd look. He gave him a small nod after a while and went back to the bookcases in the back of the room.
"Fine, let's get it over with." Yami laughed softly, following him to the bookcases.
"I thought you loved doing these things," he said, letting his fingers slide across the spines of the books. He heard Jounouchi mutter something under his breath, but not loud enough for him to hear it. He raised his flashlight to get a better look and noticed that he was probably not going to find something useful in the area. "It has to be here somewhere. Don't they keep at least one edition of every year?" Jounouchi muttered again, causing Yami to chuckle softly.
"Whatever, just keep looking." Yami sank to his knees so he could take a closer look at the books there. Jounouchi had decided that he was not going to gain Yami's attention by muttering things, so he kept quiet and, like Yami, looked for the yearbook. Yami slowly let his fingers wander over the backs of the books, some of them were dusty and the bindings were fragile, some of them were still new, apparently school had not bothered to sort them by year.
The only sound that was filling the quiet air, was the loud rumbling of the thunder and rain in the background. He did not know how long he was sitting on his knees, but they were starting to hurt and shake under his weight. There were so many books in this row, he could not stop looking until he found something, so he rubbed his sore legs and looked at the other bookcases.
"Hey, I think I found something!" Yami immediately jumped up and rushed to Jounouchi's side, placing a nervous hand on his shoulder.
"Shush!" Yami whispered when he stood next to him, his face all sweaty and pale. His friend sighed dramatically.
"Too bad I didn't bring my stereo with me," he said dryly. He received a small shove in response, he ignored it, since he was used to it, and turned to Yami, who was giving him a look. Even though Yami felt like he was standing on top of a huge building and looking down at the ground beneath him, he still wanted to know what had caused Jounouchi to yell like that.
"What did you find?" he breathed. Jounouchi turned back to the bookcase, touched a couple of the books with the tip of his fingernail until he reached a certain book. He pulled it out with a small grin and held it in front of Yami's face teasingly.
"Isn't this what you were looking for?" Yami shined the flashlight on the cover. The picture was very old, the colors were barely visible and there was something in the corner… A big smile appeared on Yami's lips.
"1960's edition… Jounouchi-kun, you're the best! This is exactly what we're looking for!" Jounouchi mirrored Yami's smile and patted his own chest after Yami had taken the book out of his hands.
"That's why you needed me, right? I am the best," he said proudly. Yami smiled at him and laid the dusty book on the table. He sat down and flipped it open so he could look at the pages. Jounouchi leaned over his shoulder so he could look, too. "So, who are we looking for again?" He still had not told Jounouchi about the boy, he was not sure if he had to tell him what happened in the restroom, so he would keep it simple. It was late, Jounouchi probably would not bother to ask too many questions, anyway.
"I don't know his name, so we're going to look at the pictures. This boy looks exactly like me, only younger and more…" Yami snapped his fingers to find the right word. "Childlike?" Jounouchi leaned forward and pressed his cheek against Yami's in a teasing way. Yami's eyes softened at the action, it was a sign that they were still very close friends and he liked it.
"You aren't looking for yourself, are you? I didn't know you were that old, Yami." Yami could not help the smile that was forming on his lips when Jounouchi tried to lighten the mood, like always. It was something he always did when things got pretty serious, like now. He gently pried Jounouchi away and focused on the book.
"Just look at the pictures, alright?" Yami started flipping through the pages, he skipped the same old information about their school and looked for the school pictures. Jounouchi kept leaning on his shoulder, examining the book just like Yami was doing. When he had reached the school pictures, he started to slow down and carefully turned the pages over, studying every picture. He had to admit that it was quite fascinating to look at the old pictures, he was not used to these kinds. After a while, Jounouchi laid his hand on top of the book to stop Yami from turning the pages.
"Wait!" Yami gently removed Jounouchi's hand and looked at the picture that lay hidden beneath his friend's hand. His eyes widened; it was Atemu. "Wow, that's really freaky, the guy looks just like you! And you told me you weren't looking for yourself!" Yami examined the picture, taking his time to drink in all the details. Atemu did look exactly like him, it was almost as if he was looking at an old picture of himself. Those hypnotizing violet eyes were staring at him rather cockily, apparently Atemu knew he had good looks and was not afraid to show it.
A picture was worth a thousand words and this was a perfect example, Yami could easily tell that Atemu was a nice person, the smile on his face was not entirely arrogant, it also had a bit of kindness in it. His tan skin made him stand out between all the other pale students, and so did his unusual hairstyle. One of his blond bangs was almost covering one of his violet eyes, giving him a playful and fierce look. Yami's eyes softened when he tore his gaze away from the picture.
"This is not the person we're looking for, Jounouchi-kun." Jounouchi leaned on Yami's shoulders with his elbows, whining like a bored little toddler.
"Aw, come on. Can't we pretend we were looking for this guy? I want to go home." He looked at this watch and let out a sigh. "We've been here for two hours now. Take the damn book with you!" Yami looked at him and frowned, as if he could not believe what he had said.
"I can't just take this home with me. They'll notice and as you know, it's not mine," he said. "You can go home if you want, I'm staying here. I still need to look at his file, if I find out his name." Jounouchi let out another sigh and leaned on Yami's shoulder again, burying his face in the back of his shirt. Yami continued turned over the pages, carefully examining every picture that crossed his path, he half expected Jounouchi to leave, and half expected him to stay.
"No, I'm staying. You won't survive without me." Yami was still for a moment, not sure how to respond to that. Jounouchi had a tendency to joke around and Yami was not always sure wether he appreciated it, or not. In this case, he decided to drop the subject and reached for his friend's hands, patting them.
"Thanks, Jounouchi-kun. I really owe you one." Jou leaned further onto him, fortunately Yami was quite used to it and did not mind. He continued to turn the pages over while Jou started mumbling again. All kinds of pictures flew past his eyes, his mind almost could not handle it. Domino High School had always been a big school with a lot of students, and now he had the chance to see every single student that had walked through those doors 50 years ago. Yami was so absorbed in the pictures that he barely heard the words Jounouchi had said.
"Yeah, yeah. Just keep looking, will you?" Yami chuckled after he realized that Jou was growing impatient. He turned the page again and his eyes almost popped out of his head. Two large eyes were staring at him through the dusty page, almost speaking to him without using actual words. He recognized him as the boy who had been standing behind him several days ago. Jounouch was probably not looking at the book anymore because he did not react, at all.
"I think I found him."
"Hm? Oh, wow..." Jounouchi raised his head from Yami's head and leaned over his shoulder so he could examine the picture. Both of them were speechless for quite some time, two pairs of eyes kept staring at the picture, as if they were almost waiting for it to come alive and start moving around. Obviously that was not going to happen, so Yami closed his mouth, which had fallen open during the staring session and placed the tips of his fingers on the page, not wanting to damage it.
"I know," Yami said quietly. He looked around for the name, it was directly underneath the picture. The name had slightly faded over the years, but it was still readable. "Yugi Mutou." Jounouchi pulled back and walked around the table, stretching his arms above his head.
"Yugi, eh? Fits him." Yami nodded in agreement, his eyes never leaving the picture. Yugi was smiling happily, showing a straight row of white teeth, a light healthy glow was on his round cheeks and one of blond bangs was tucked behind his ear so it would not be in the way. There was so much happiness in his large eyes that Yami could hardly imagine the other side he had seen of him. Just like Atemu's picture, this one had a lot to say, too. If someone would see this picture, they would probably not be able to picture Yugi crying. He had not noticed that he was staring at the picture until Jounouchi knocked on his head, snapping him out of his daze.
"Ow!" Yami reached for his head and gave Jounouchi a look, who merely grinned at him.
"Are you going to stare at that picture forever or are you going to look for his files?" Rubbing the now sore spot on his head, Yami looked away, feeling very hot and stupid.
"R-right," he mumbled more to himself than to Jounouchi. He shoved his hand under the book and closed it, dust flew out of it as he did and he quickly gave it back to Jounouchi before more dust could escape from it. He stood up and shoved the chair back in place, to make sure there were not any tracks. Jou was already leaning over the drawers, his slender fingers flipping through the files. Yami kept walking around the room, looking for nothing in particular, there was not much to look at, anymore. He had always wondered what the teacher's lounge would look like and he was not impressed if he was going to be honest with himself. He heard Jounouchi reading the names out loud,
"M…Mutou…Mutou... Matsuki, Mizumaki, Morishita? Yami, I'm hungry, did you bring anything to eat?"
"Katsuya!"
"Oh, boy, first name. Alright, alright. Mut…Mutou!" Jounouchi pulled out the files and handed them to Yami.
"Thank you." Yami placed his thumb on the pages and pressed it down so he could flip through them. "Hm, honor student, never skipped class, the perfect pupil, eh… What?!" Yami dropped the files, causing the papers to fly all over the place. Jounouchi clamped his hand over Yami's mouth and looked around with fear in his eyes. Yami's hands were shaking so badly that it almost looked like they had a mind of their own.
"It's past twelve, smart ass! Everyone's probably asleep! Do you want to get caught?"
Snap. Something popped in Yami's head his wide eyes widened even more. Jounouchi stepped back, removing his hand from Yami's mouth, frowning when he saw the look on his friend's face. Yami pressed his hands over his forehead, breathing heavily through his nose.
"My parents said they would be home around twelve. If my mother goes up to my room and finds out I'm not there…" Yami sucked in his bottom lip and dug his teeth in it, Elena was not a very nice woman when she got mad. They never had fights, but Yami knew in what kind of person she would turn into if she found out her only son was not sleeping soundly in his bed like he was supposed to. Instead, he was dressed as a burglar, with his best friend, and breaking into school; which made the situation even worse. "I'm dead." Jounouchi put an arm around Yami's neck and pulled him close, smiling reassuringly.
"Don't worry, bud. Once your parents find out you're not home, they'll probably call my parents first. And remember, my mom thinks we're at some nightclub, so she'll manage to calm them down. When we come back, I'll tell your mom that I picked you up after they left the house." Yami looked at him, trying to slow down his poor heart that was probably going to burst out of his chest if he did not calm down in the next few seconds.
"You think she'll believe you? My mom is not your mom." Jounouchi grinned, let go of his neck and winked at him.
"Of course she will, never ever underestimate me, Yami."
"Thanks, Jounouchi-kun. You're a life saver." Instead of a cocky grin, Jounouchi gave him a true smile and knelt down so he could sort out the papers Yami had dropped.
"No problem, let's clean this mess up before we leave. Why did you drop it, anyway?" Yami sank to his knees, too and helped him. He tried his best to avoid his gaze and focussed on Yugi's files instead.
"Nothing. It was nothing. Don't worry about it." Jounouchi raised an eyebrow at him and lowered his head, tipping it to one side so he could give the other a look. Yami pretended he did not notice and piled everything up.
"If you say so, Yami," Jounouchi said. "I know you'll tell me someday, you always do. I'm glad I'm not the one with a photographic memory." That fact hit Yami in the face like a huge brick. He had completely forgotten about that, he would probably not be able to get all those pictures out of his head for a very long time. Having a photograph did have its advantages, sometimes he even used it to get better grades, but he refused to let himself become a cheater, so he always tried to get the literal pictures out of his head. And now that he thought about it, he wished that he did not have a photographic memory.
After Jounouchi had giving him his own pile, he put the files back and stood there like a lifeless doll.
"I guess," Yami said, quietly. He was still a bit lost in thought, he could not get that one sentence he had read out of his head. He shook his head, turned to Jounouchi with a small smile. "Come on, let's go." He closed the drawer with a small huff, grabbed his bag and followed Jounouchi back to the hallway. While Jounouchi was trying to lock the door again, Yami folded his arms over his chest when he felt a chill running down his spine. He looked over his shoulder, expecting to see someone, but they were still alone.
Click. He turned back to Jounouchi, who tried to open the door again, and when the knob would not twist, he grinned proudly.
"Done. Time to leave!" Jounouchi patted Yami's back and led him to the doors. Yami was speechless when he saw the clear dark sky; it had stopped raining, not one single cloud was there, the only thing that could be seen, were the million stars gazing down at them and the bright moon sending out a ghostly white light. "You know, it'll help if you shined some light on the lock."
"... What? Oh, right, sorry." He grabbed the flashlight and shined it on the lock of the door. Jounouchi gave him a grateful nod and continued. Yami looked at his watch, still holding the flashlight in his other hand and shut his eyes, it was almost 12:30. There was a final click and Jounouchi pulled back, patting himself on the shoulder.
"Oh, I know I'm the best, you don't have to tell me, Yami," he said with a smirk. Yami started laughing and put the knife back in his bag.
"Let's go before you fall in love with yourself," he joked, dragging Jounouchi away from the doors. Jounouchi grabbed the umbrella they had left there and twirled the hook around his finger. "Thank you for everything, Jounouchi-kun. You really are the best." Jounouchi glowed at the compliment and put his arm around Yami's shoulder, squeezing the joint.
"You can always count on me, Yami,' he said with wink.
"Yami! You're back!" Elena wrapped her arms around Yami's neck and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. He almost lost his balance when she practically pulled him off his feet, he looked over his shoulder at Jounouchi who was looking away awkwardly. Yami turned back to his mother and rubbed her back gently. "We were so worried about you! You could've called us." Yami looked at his pocket where his cellphone was.
"Right, I forgot…" he lied lamely, pretending he had totally forgotten about the fact that his phone had been in his pocket the entire time. He was lucky enough that she let is slip, her lips turned into that typical smile of hers and she looked inside at Yami's father who was lying on the couch. His brown hair was draped over the cushions, he had bags under his eyes and his lightly tanned skin looked a bit pale. Guilt was gnawing at Yami's heart teasingly, he had never worried his parents like that, and he truly felt sorry for making them worry.
"Yeah, your father fell asleep on the couch, he wanted to wait for you to come back, but that meeting was rather tiring," she said with a small sigh. "So, Jounouchi picked you up to go to a nightclub?" Jounouchi and Yami chuckled nervously in response. Elena had said it very slowly, as if she could not believe that her own son would go to a nightclub. Yami did not blame her, he was not outgoing, at all, and he always informed his parents about everything. Well, except for the small incident at school and this.
"Yeah, Mrs Sennen, I believe you've spoken to my mother?" Elena nodded at him. "I picked Yami up after you left, and I think he just forgot to tell you." Yami looked at Jounouchi from the corner of his eyes, mouthing a small thanks, so his mother would not hear it. Elena looked at Yami and folded her arms over her chest, casually raising an eyebrow. Yami turned back to her, his thoughts running around his head at the speed of light. The excuses poured down, like the rain had done for three days straight.
"Well, I didn't have the chance to tell you, mom," Yami said simply. That was not really a lie, his parents had left so quickly, that he had not gotten the chance to actually talk to them. He could not have told them about tonight, even if he wanted to. Elena sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the door with her back so Yami could walk past her.
"Do you want to come in, too, Jounouchi?" she asked, opening one of her violet eyes so she could look at him. Jounouchi shook his head and turned around.
"No, thanks. I'm going home, see you tomorrow, Yami." He placed his hand on Yami's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly before he left. Elena closed the door when Jounouchi was around the corner and looked at Yami, frowning at his clothes.
"What's with the black outfit?" Yami blinked a few times, looking down at the black clothes that he was wearing. He usually did not wear a lot of black, so this must have been a huge surprise for her to see. Most of the time, he wore his blue school uniform, even when he was at home, because he never bothered to change into his other clothes. And since his parents were barely home during the weekends, they never got the chance to see him wearing his own clothes.
"Uh, a lot of girls find it attractive," Yami muttered lamely, feeling very hot. Elena burst out laughing, she almost sank to her knees, clutching her slim waist. Yami pursed his lips, he did not think she would find it that funny. After she had calmed down, she walked over to Yami and patted his cheek, her grin still plastered on her face.
"Should have known," she said softly before placing a hand on Yami's shoulder. "You'll find someone one day, believe me. You don't have to dress up as a robber to make a girl fall in love with you." Yami laughed nervously at the word 'robber', but nodded. "Now, go to bed, we'll talk about this tomorrow." She walked past him, towards the couch, she grabbed the blanket that was neatly folded on the arm and laid it over her husband. She ran her fingers through his hair before she turned off the few lights that were still on.
"About girls?" Yami asked innocently, after he had taken off his jacket. He received a playful glare from his mother.
"Nice try, Yami," she said before pushing him up toward the stairs.
Author's note: Revised.