"...what..do I...do..." He whispered. Yugi leaned over to look at his partner and began to tear up immediately. "...pharaoh..."
The King was crying.
Savannah Georgia ~ ForWARd
Volume 1 – Chapter 3: "The Truth About Yuu"
The Living Room
7:30 pm
Narrator's P.O.V
"Uh..." Lucia said quietly as she entered the living room. She didn't know what to make of the situation. She had just witnessed the Pharaoh discover the truth about Yuu and she hadn't seen him look like that since he lost Yugi to the Seal of Orichalcoas. And that's a big deal.
The worse part was that Jane didn't have a clue.
"Hey...Link?" She called when she interrupted the boys. Junior was napping on the couch with Duke and Joey was eating a bag of chips, watching anime on Netflix. Link was just writting in his note book, quietly singing the notes to himself without waking anyone or disturbing Joey's show.
Lucia took a breath.
"Link? Can you come here for a sec...?"
Link turned to see Lucia under the arch of one of the pillars, just able to see her from the lights of the fish tank. She seemed incredibly depressed, so he got up to his feet, closed his note book and walked over to her.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her. She cradled her arms.
"Can we talk for a minute. Somewhere private?" She asked. Link blinked twice.
"Uh, sure," He said, leading her upstairs and slipping on a pair of slippers on the way. "We can get to the roof from my room. Come on."
As they walked through the hall, Lucia had her eyes glued to the Pharaoh's door, wondering, hoping and extremely worried. When Link opened the door to his own room, Lucia inhaled the wonderful scent of the natural wooden furniture that was crafted for their room to resemble home. Link walked to the window over the cushioned bench and pulled it open, dropping his notebook on the cushion and handing Lucia a comfy green sweater to stay warm in the winter night. Lucia took the shirt in her hands and wanted to return the gesture. Looking around, she found Link's blue scarf laying under the bed. She picked it up and handed it to him.
"You gotta keep warm too." She said sincerely. Link grunted and looked at the scarf with anger, took it from her quickly and climbed out into the roof without putting it on. Lucia slipped into the sweater and followed him out, closing the window behind her to keep the cold from going inside the house. She played it off, but it was tougher than she thought. She sighed and turned around, keeping her balance and following Link on the roof deeper into the night.
"Don't slip," Link said. Wasted effort. Lucia's clumsyness caused her to slip on a brick and the Hylian caught her effortlessly with one arm around her waist.
"Silly." He said, picking her up with that arm and putting her down so that they were both sitting. Despite he was wearing a t-shirt, Link didn't respond to the cold, even when the steam seeped out from his breath. Lucia blushed as she sat. He's strong.
"So whats wrong?" Link asked. Lucia put her hands in the pockets of the sweater and sighed.
"Well," She began slowly, "Yami just found out about Yuu."
"WHAT!?" Link raised his voice, shifting his weight to face her. "Where is he!? Is he alright!?"
Lucia wasn't suprised at this reaction since it was just a repeat of when Link found out himself. She shook her head. "I don't know, but Yugi is with him in their room right now."
Link grunted, breathing hard in anger and tried to calm himself down. He wanted to go comfort his friend, but perhaps being alone with his other half is best.
"How did he find out? Didn't you guys just get home?" He said through his teeth.
Lucia nodded. "He over heard Mai and Jane talking about him in my room when he walked me there."
"Over heard what? What did she say?" Link was curious and Lucia sighed. It was hard to say out loud.
"Well to paraphrase..." She said, "They were talking about Jane and Yuu's intimate relationship."
When Lucia put the emphasis on intimiate, Link's eyes widened. "You...didn't tell me they went...that far..."
Lucia didn't respond. She just dug her face into her knees. Both to keep warm, and to control her sadness.
"I was there when he heard it." She said with her voice cracking, "He looked completely horrified. Like someone died...right there. It was scary, I didn't even know what to say."
Link put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "You didn't have to say anything." He paused, "Did the Pharaoh, though?"
"He didn't. He just silently went into his room, and that was all." Lucia answered. It was silent for about five seconds before Link shared his thoughts.
"I don't know what's worse...learning that she was with Yuu this whole time...or learning that she's been touched." He said.
Lucia looked up from her lap. "Wha...what do you mean?"
Link stretched out his legs. "The Pharaoh is old fashioned. I am sure he wanted to be the only one to have her in that way, you know?"
It took her a minute but when Lucia understood what he meant, she blushed and then shook her head.
"I think he's more hurt because he feels betrayed. Lied to." She said.
"It could be a mix of both." Link suggested. "But it's out of your hands now, Lucia. There's no sense of feeling sad about it."
Lucia nodded and then arched her eyebrows. "That's extremely hypocrytical, don't you think?" She said, sad voice gone. Link blinked with suprise.
"What do you mean?" He asked confused.
"Who's been moping around for weeks now over something out of their hands?" She asked. Link grunted.
"That's different!" He argued.
"How?"
"Because I am sad over something actually affecting me! You're just sad over the Pharaoh and his problems."
"I am sad for him because I care, even though I can't do anything about it, I can still feel depressed. Just like you're sad about Dee leaving you. Can you do anything about it? No. It's the same concept." Lucia said, crossing her arms.
Link clentched a fist when Diana's name was said out loud. Part of him was angry at Jane for telling Lucia about what happened in the old house. He grunted again then breathed out long and heavy.
"Whatever, it's not the same concept because I'm not sad about her anymore." He lied.
"Ya right." Lucia said, looking at the elf in the eyes. He looked like he was deep in thought, and whatever he was thinking was really angering him and causing him to look like he wanted to rip up the scarf in his right hand...
"Say, why haven't you warn that scarf lately?" Lucia asked. "You used to wear it all the time."
Link put a palm over his head. He could feel this dark ache creeping over his mind that made him feel dizzy. He grunted and pulled the scarf into view. "Uh...Dee...bought it for me."
Lucia blinked. "Oh...I see. Sorry."
"...While on her stupid date with Duke." He added. Lucia sweatdropped. Not so romantic, is she? She looked at the scarf and then at him. He still held his head in his palm and she questioned it.
"Got a head ache or something?" She asked.
"No, I'm alright," He said and the Lucia saw the glow of red in his eyes again. Her shoulders jolted up before it was gone. This was the second time!
"Link...?" She asked worried.
"Here." He said, "You can have it."
Link tossed the blue scarf to the girl and she examined it, deciding to ignore what she saw again.
"Are you sure? It looked really great on you, ya know?" She complimented.
"Uh, really?"
"Yeah, you shouldn't get rid of it just because of sad memories..." Lucia thought, "You should re-invent this scarf!"
Link sweatdropped. "What do you mean?"
Lucia folded up the fabric.
"I'll sew it up to look a bit different, and then every time you see it, instead of remembering Dee, you'll remember your friends; how they stuck by you and helped you get over hard times." Lucia smiled.
Link blushed at her kindness. "That's so incredibly cheasy and so like you, you know that?" Even though he has only known Lucia for a little over two months, one thing he's learned about her is she's too nice for her own good, and takes frienship too seriously.
"Is that granted permission?" Lucia clarified. Link shrugged.
"Do whatever you want." He said, laying on his back. After a pause;
"So you guys planned to watch Spider Man?" Lucia broke the ice, "Why Spider Man?"
"It was Joey's idea, he wanted..."
And they spoke on the roof about all kinds of stuff for two hours.
9:30
Lucia walked out of Link's room with him at the same moment that Yugi came out of his room, closing the door behind him, looking sad.
"Yugi...?" Link said, "Is he alright?"
Yugi sighed, assuming that Link has already been updated. "Not at all. He felt sick after breaking down for an hour and it tired him out...he just fell asleep."
"What's the next step...?" Link asked quietly.
"I think it's better we all just leave him alone and pretend we're not up to speed. He'll talk if he wants to." Yugi explained. "The hard part will be to keep Duke and Joey silent."
"Just send them home," Link said, "And don't invite them back again until he's recovered a bit."
"That'll only make things suspicious..." Yugi said. "Plus, I think they're staying over night."
"Keeping those two quiet isn't even the hardest part," Lucia said, "Jane doesn't have a clue about any of this. She's been working up until now in our room with Mai. How are we going to tell her?"
"Do not tell Jane!" Yugi said in a loud whisper. Lucia jolted in suprised.
"...Why not?"
"If Jane finds out, she'll be all depressed and freaking out and that will only make the Pharaoh feel worse. If he wants to let her know that's he's updated with her relationship status, then he will tell her himself." Yugi explained. "Other than that, do not say anthing."
After an akward pause;
"So, we have to keep in all this stress to ourselves?" Link said with an annoyed tone, "It's going to be uncomfertable in the house now."
Lucia craddeled her head in her hands. "Urgh, I don't even want to imagine Yami's face in the morning."
"Come on," Yugi said, walking toward the stairs. "Let's try to get our minds off of it."
"It's still early, how about a game of smash?" Link asked, following Yugi. Lucia watched them go downstairs but decided to leave them to it and join the girls instead. She took a deep breath at her door, thinking that this was her biggest challenge ever to lie effectively. Hopefully they wont see through her.
Lucia opened the door to find the girls completely in their own world. Jane was laying on her bed, eyes glued to the phone and cuddled up with Luna while Mai had her headphones on, doing whatever she was doing on the laptop inside the crevesse about the beds. When Lucia closed the door behind her, she caught Jane's attention.
"Finally! Where have you been all day? How was the school?" She asked, sitting up. Lucia had completely forgotton about the first half of her day until she began to remember her journey with Yami.
"Oh, it was really cool. You should come with me some time to see it, it's really something." Lucia said, reaching into her pocket. "Look, Yami and I took some pictures."
Jane took the photos from Lucia and looked at them with interested eyes. "Dang, he looks sexy in all three." She said. Mai laughed, hearing them despite her headphones. Lucia squirmed, doing everything she could to keep her mind focused and off the big secret.
"Isn't that Link's?" Jane asked when she saw the blue scarf hung over Lucia's shoulder. Lucia took it off and began folding it up.
"Yeah, he doesn't want to wear it anymore because of bad memories, so I'm going to make it new." She explained. Mai sat up.
"It's sweet that you're going out of your way for your boyfriend," She joked. Lucia turned red.
"He's no my boyfriend, Mai." She said then quietly, "Besides, he is still getting over everything."
"So you do like him!" Mai snapped her fingers and Lucia flailed in embaressment.
"Mai," Jane said, "everyone likes Link. Even I have a crush on him."
Mai and Lucia laughed, completely understanding.
"Well, we're all out of luck because his heart is still with Dee." Lucia said.
"Please!" Mai waved a hand, "Link and Diana never went out, he just had a little crush. Tell her, Jane."
Jane cockily raised her chin. "Well considering that I was the one to see it all happen from start to finish, my opinion is greatly valued, isn't it?"
Mai and Lucia waited.
"Share the opinion, hun." Mai said with an annoyed tone. Jane wasn't stalling, she was remembering. Remembering every moment she can recall seeing or hearing about from Dee.
"Well, I remember Link was acting weird after that party 'cause Dee got drunk, and he was trying to clear unresolved feelings. But then he ended up dropping it and they became best friends." Jane remembered, "I also recall Diana telling me that Link spoke in his sleep saying he thought he loved someone. But let me just say from personal experience, when like becomes love, you don't think, you know. And I feel like if Link did love Diana, he would have done something about it. He isn't the triforce of courage for nothing ya know. I think a lot of it was based on confusion."
Mai huffed. "Maybe if Diana wasn't so shy, they would have had progress," she paused, "but I guess that's just better for you, right Lucia?"
Lucia stomped her foot. "I'm not going to try to get with Link, you guys!" She said. "Right now my focus is on school, Little Link and staying sane in this house."
The girls laughed. Staying sane was a big challenge for them now in a world where nothing's fictional anymore. Sometimes they wonder how they stay conscious around guys who happen to be incredibly good looking. Sometimes they wonder how they can keep up with all their different lives and responsibilities.
"What about you, Mai?" Jane asked...again. "You and KAITO seem pretty comfortable."
"If you're implying something forget it! KAITO and I have too much in common. Besides, we're like business partners now, not to mention best friends." Mai explained. "And believe me, I have enough to handle now that I'm marrying Joey."
Jane huffed.
"Best friends. I fucking hate those words." She said.
Speaking of KAITO and your new job, I get to meet him right?" Lucia batted her eyelashes to Mai and had already forgotten about being sad. Morning
Guest Room
Mai held her pillow over head, trying to shield any noise from disturbing her sleep. It was a wasted effort, Duke and Joey were already wide awake.
"Check it out!~" Joey said in his usual accent. "It's snowing!"
Duke was already dressed and hopped over to the window next to Joey, smudging his nose against the cold glass and fogging it up.
"Cool!" He said smileing. "Maybe it'll snow long enough to fill the pool and then we can go for a winter swim."
"Yeah! Winter pool party!" Joey fist pumped.
Duke sweatdropped. "I'm only kidding, Joey. That would need 3 metres of snow, it would never come down that much."
Joey lightly shoved Duke's head aside. "I know that! I was just playing along, you party pooper."
Mai groaned in annoyence at their conversation.
"Oh sorry, it's hard to catch a joke from someone who's naturally unintelligent." Duke insulted. Joey laughed sracastically.
"Wow, did you think of that all by yourself?" Joey faught back. Mai sat up in her bed.
"Are you done?" She asked. The boys blinked twice.
"It's snowing." Joey pointed outside and Mai rolled her eyes, getting up off one of the bottom bunks, which she willingly took over when Duke and Joey faught over the tops last night to shut them up.
"What's on for breakfast, do you know?" She asked. When she got no reply, she looked at the time on the old style clock hung on the wall and slightly shrieked.
"Yeek! It's 6 in the morning!" She complained. "The sun isn't even up yet!"
"He woke me up." They both said at the same time and Mai groaned again, grabbing her clothes and headed into the guest washroom.
"Seriously though, Mai. You have a rehersal at 8. Are you going?" Joey asked at the door. Once she was dressed in her skirt and sexy top, she walked past the boys, to make her bed.
"Yes of course." Mai said, fluffing her pillow. "Duke, you're coming with me. Tristen is coming by and you will destory each other without my supervision."
Joey laughed. "Supervision! Cause your a kid!" He teased. Duke sweatdropped and held out his hand.
"Congratulations. You can identify sarcasm now." Duke said sarcastically.
"Nyeh?" Joey didn't get it.
Lucia walked by their room and rolled her eyes with a smile. Though it was an entertaining conversation, she couldn't very well sleep with the stress of the night before so she was up early. She decided to stop forcing it and, assuming that everyone was still asleep, fix her hair and grab some breakfast in the kitchen.
All the lights were shut off on the main floor and she walked through the dark based on memory. When she got to the kitchen, she turned on the light switch and was thoroughly surprised to find the Pharaoh.
He was standing in front of the window at the sink with his back turned to her, looking into the drain like if it was something of interest. It seemed like he was holding onto the ledge for balance and he only noticed Lucia's presence after what seemed like quite a while. He turned only enough to see her.
"Oh," He said, turning back to face the sink. "Good morning, Lucia."
"Hey." She said, walking slowly to the counter by the fuit bowl. She looked at him curiously while grabbing a banana. She was worried. She leaned over to see his face, but he picked up on her effort and turned his gaze away from her. He didnt want their eyes to meet. He was humiliated and upset that she knew about something so important that he did not.
"Uh. You alright?" Lucia asked wondering if those were the correct words. She's never had a real converstion with him before and she didn't know how one should treat an Egyptian King, or if there is any anicent mumbo jumbo required or if the gang should still treat him like one.
Yami rubbed his forhead and decided to ignore her question. Still looking away from her he asked, "It's very early. Why are you walking around?"
Lucia shrugged and decided to lie.
"The guests woke me up and I wanted food." Lucia said, grabbing a class. "And water."
She implied for him to move over so she could access the sink and when he looked at her to read her signal, she caught a glimpse of his eyes. She slightly flinched. His purple eyes looked nearly black, shining like glass and they were really puffy. A normal person probably wouldn't notice an after effect like this, but Lucia felt like she could pick up easily when someone had been crying. And from the look of his eyes...he was crying...a lot.
"Uh..." She thought and when the Pharaoh looked away again, she knew he was avoiding interaction. "What about you, why are you awake so early?"
"Can't sleep." He said, and walked out of the kitchen. Lucia definitly felt bad for him and wondered what she could do to help without getting involved.
Lucia drank the rest of her water and put down the glass.
Later
1:00 pm
Lucia has her whole idea in mind. She sat on her bed with Link's scarf, sewing a design into the fabric, sticking her tounge out in focus. Jane was at her drawing table, drawing away as usual. They were doing their own thing with soft music in the back ground until they heard the front door open.
"Ok, bring it this way." They heard Mai's voice.
"This is what you meant by help? I only get an hour break from work, I thought it was an emergency!" Link complained, following Mai into the house. Jane and Lucia looked at each other and then quickly jogged down the spiral steps to the door. Link was carrying a large musical keyboard into the living room and set it down to the left of the couches and fire place.
"This is an emergency. Sort of. Who else has the strength to carry that thing?" Mai said.
"Link, shouldn't you be at work?" Jane asked, with Luna in her arms.
"Yeah, I'm going," Link said, looking at Mai with harsh brows. "I expect a lovely set of cookies and milk prepared by my return."
"Done." Mai winked as Link jogged back outside to return to his occupation.
"He even looks hot when he leaves." Jane said blinked and Lucia blushed.
"Where does he work now?"
"Back to construction," Jane sighed, "Until he finds something better."
"Why work at all? The Pharaoh's loaded." Mai commented.
"Men. They have egos." Jane answered, stepping down to the floor. "So what's with the Piano?"
"It's not a Piano, it's a keyboard." Mai said, plugging it in.
"That's what I said." Jane ignored, "Why is it here?"
Mai thought of the Pharaoh early this morning and thought a little distraction can help him out. But she wasn't going to say that and make herself look soft.
"If you must know, I like you guys. But I like my job, too. The Vocaloids need to practice their craft in my presence so I figured that, while I am here, at least they have a place to do it." She explained.
"But, here in the lounge? Yami's not going to like that idea." Jane wondered.
"Why not?"
"I don't know, if it's too often, it might disturb him." Jane theorized. "I suppose if it becomes a bother, we can move it to the basement."
Lucia blinked. "We have a basement?"
Jane nodded. "Yeah it's full of all our old junk and Dee's stuff that she didn't take with her."
"I haven't seen the basement, where is it?" Lucia asked while Mai started pressing keys for jokes.
"We can't, it's locked. You'll have to ask Yami." Jane paused, "Speaking of, where is he? I feel like I haven't seen him in days."
"Uh, you saw him yesterday," Lucia said quickly, "Before he took me to the school."
"Yeah but that was yesterday morning," Jane said, realizing that it's been over 24 hours since they've crossed paths in the house.
"I saw him this morning." Mai said. "He was in the kitchen with Lucia."
"6 am? So early? What was he doing?" Jane asked. Lucia was panicing on the inside.
"I don't know. He was just standing there. But he looked like he was-" Mai stopped when she saw Lucia behind Jane, signaling the classic hand over the throat, begging her to shut up. "...uh he was going somewhere?"
Jane turnd around and Lucia played it off by scratching her head. "Why don't you go see him upstairs?" She suggested. Jane raised a brow, feeling vibes but ignored the girls and went upstairs.
"Few," Lucia said when she was gone. Mai crossed her arms.
"What is going on?" She asked. ...
Jane reached the King's room and knocked on the door.
"Yami? It's MJ. Can I come in?" She said politely.
"Hang on!" She heard Yugi say, and soon he opened the door, just as he slipped on a shirt. His hair was damp and he smelled of fresh shampoo. He greeted her with a smile. "Hey Jane. What's up?"
"Just wondering where Yami is. I feel like I haven't spoken to him in forever." She said. Yugi scratched the back of his head.
"That's nice but uh, did you forget that he's at the museum today?" Yugi questioned and Jane's eyes widened.
"The museum? He said he finished everything already, what is he doing there?" She wondered.
"Oh, uh didn't he tell you? He opened early," Yugi pretended to act as casual as he could. "I bet it's quite the scene over there."
Jane didn't understand. Yami wanted everyone to be there when he opened the museum. And to go about this without letting her know? That wasn't like him.
"So, why aren't you there with him, Yugi?" Jane asked. Yugi stalled by pretending to fix his hair. What excuse could he give her?
"Uh, he told me that it would be too crowded and that he would give us a private tour another day." Yugi saved and Jane crossed her arms. Something wasn't right.
At that moment, the chime of Yugi's puzzle was heard. It was glowing on the bed and Yugi gasped, rushing over to it to check it out.
"What's wrong, Yugi?" Jane asked.
"Oh! It's Duke, he's trying to cross back over with Tristen." He said, grabbing Jane's arm and guiding her into the hall. "Come on, let's meet him downstairs."
Yugi stopped in the hall by the guest room and banged the door. "Hey Joey! It's Duke and he's with Tristen! Come downstairs!"
...
"So keep it quiet, ok?" Lucia finished explaining and Mai shrugged.
"So much drama with those two," She said. Lucia saw Jane coming down with Yugi and Joey and nudged Mai in the arm.
"Change the subject." She said quickly.
"So! KAITO is also going to teach me how to sing and play," Mai lied, tapping the keyboard. "I mean, I should be able to play something if I'm managing their music."
Lucia pretended to stay interested until a knock was heard on the front door behind them. Yugi opened it excidetly to reveal his friends.
"Hey guys!" He said with a smile and was immediately hugged by them.
"Yugi, buddy! Have you gotten taller there last two months?" Tristen asked, nodding to Jane and Joey.
Yugi laughed. "Did you bring Rebecka with you?"
Duke immeditaly became sad. "I'm sorry, Yugi. She's really caught up with the research on Atlantis and I didn't know I was suppose to bring her with me... you should go visit her."
Yugi frowned. "Oh. It's ok."
"Ah, I'll tell Serenity to bring her over." Joey said with a hand on Yugi's shoulder.
"Hm," Duke blinked twice, looking at Lucia and Mai. "You ladies look beautiful as usual."
"Alright, that's enough," Jane said, pulling his red top.
"Speaking of beautiful, where's my girl, Diana? She hasn't been around lately." Duke added.
Everyone looked at each other fast and confused.
"Uh, did no one tell you what happened last Halloween, Duke?" Yugi asked.
"Sure! Mai told me you guys were moving to a new place because of the museum." Duke clarified. "Why?"
"Joey? Didn't you tell Duke while you were in Domino City?" Yugi asked.
"I thought you guys told him." Joey blinked, "Besides, I was pissed off enough, I didn't want to talk about it with anyone, especially her secret admirer."
"Tell me what?" Duke crossed his arms.
"Diana doesn't live with us anymore." Jane said emotionlessly, "She's been gone since October."
"What do you mean gone...? Like she visits now and then right...?" Tristen wondered.
Yugi shook his head. "I'm afraid not. She got upset with us and left. We haven't seen or heard from her since."
Duke's jaw dropped. "What did you guys do to her?"
Jane's brows arched. "We didn't do anything! She over reacted as usual and that's all."
"Diana wouldn't just leave-"
"But she did." Joey said, shrugged his shoulders. "I was so upset, I actually cried a bit..."
"Cry baby," Tristen commented, feeling the least down since he only every spoke to Diana a few times.
"You guys don't look depressed..." Duke said, a little upset.
"We've had the time to get over it." Jane said. "I know it must look weird to you and we appear like a heartless group, but trust me, we're done mourning."
"But my Diana..." Duke thought. "Can you guys at least tell me what happened?"
"It's too much of a bother." Jane said, picking up a purring Luna and walking up the stairs. Lucia sighed.
"She pretends like it isn't a big deal but I think she is still shocked about it even today. I'll be the first to admit that I still wonder once in a while how she could do that she did." Lucia explained. "I don't mind filling you in."
Duke nodded. "It would be best to fix my broken heart with the presence of a pretty girl." He said. Lucia ignored his comment and sat on the couch to explain. Joey looked around as he shut the front door.
Museum
"Thank you," Yami said when a historian complimented a display. He was playing the part as Pharaoh in the Egyptian exhibit, wearing his all of his gold and expensive royal garb that he would wear 5000 years ago when he ruled as king. He watched everyone take pictures and smileing and enjoying their time when walked aside to another staff member.
"Keep an eye on things, I'm stepping out for a while." He told her. As she bowed in respect, he left the exhibit and entered a room labelled Employees Only and locked the door behind him. Inside was a small comfertable lunch room for the staff to take breaks, eat their lunches and rest. It lead to a second room with a shower and guest room incase staff wanted to crash overnight, however the Pharaoh just sat on a red couch by the lunch table and layed his head back with a sigh.
I didn't tell Jane about this, he thought to himself. I wonder if she's upset..
The Pharaoh closed his eyes, trying to stop the memory from resurfacing. At that moment, the emergency exit door flew open, sending the door knob smashing against the wall. Yami's eyes flew open as this happened while finding a concerned Link entering the building and shutting the door behind him. When he looked at the Pharaoh, he found that the King stayed calm.
"You broke my lock." He said simply. Link caught his breath.
"Nice outfit." He nodded and the Pharaoh blinked.
"Likewise." He said, regarding Link's constuction uniform from work.
"What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be enjoying your big day?" Link asked, with his hands on his hips.
"I was going to ask you the same," Yami said, "Why didn't you use the front door?"
"I tried but your staff has extreme standards. I'm not dressed appropriately" Link paused, breathing normally now, "I was actually suprised to see that many people gathered around, I think the only time I've seen an area this busy are shops after my games releases...cause you know, it's me. I'm cool. I mean you're cool too, with the gold and all..."
Link made an effort to lighten the mood.
Yami blinked and watched Len mutter on to himself. "I see." Was all he said.
"I wanted to check the place out. I was giving Mai a hand with something and decided to stop by before I return to work. Is it going well?" Link stayed positive and it was hard for the Pharaoh to think anything negative with him talking so much. He smiled.
"Can't complain," He answered.
"Why don't you come home for lunch? You've been here since this morning." Link wondered. Yami's smile dissapeared.
"I'll be having lunch here with my proletarians." Yami replied.
"...so we'll see you at dinner then?"
"...I may spend the night here as well." He said and Link blinked.
"Oh," he said. He sat next to the Pharaoh on the couch casually before he noticed the artwork on his eyes. Link turned to face him on the couch.
"Hey, I never asked you why you wear makeup." He said with a smile. The Pharaoh sweatdropped.
"It's not makeup, Link. It's an ancient maquillage called Galena." Yami explained.
"It's makeup," Link said, "It's paint on your face, Pharaoh. That's called makeup."
"Listen-" Yami was going to protest but Link interrupted.
"Hey, it's cool. I'm not criticizing." Link said, laying his head on the back rest of the couch. "So why do you where it?"
Yami looked at Link curiously, wondering why he was so interested. His third eye beneath is gold tiara glistened and Link flinched. Yami read that his intentions were completely innocent and this just made the Pharaoh feel cared for.
"Cosmetics were very important in the age of my ruling. Depending on your status, it represented different things." The Pharaoh answered.
"So what does it represent on you?" He asked. The Pharaoh adjusted his gold.
"As Pharaoh, it represents all things that are mighty." He paused, "In the 21st century, nothing at all."
Link chuckled "True," He thought, "Except maybe that you're a goth... or a homosexual."
The Pharaoh sweatdropped and Link laughed.
"I'm just messing with you Pharaoh, I mean, I have cross dressed, though it wasn't fun, and no one thinks I'm gay...as far as I know, haha." Link explained.
"Ah, so you aren't?" The Pharaoh joked.
"Nice." Link said. He pulled out his phone and saw a text from his boss, telling him to return to work."Heh," He grunted, putting his phone away, "I better head back."
The Pharaoh nodded and Link stood up to his feet, about to exit through the door he came in and turned around to look at the king once more. He was just sitting there.
"Pharaoh," Link felt bad, "Come home. We're worried about you. Don't you want to talk things out with...us, before we get back to work or school this week?"
The Pharaoh clenched a fist. "I'm not sure that is a good idea."
"Why not?"
"Being at home now will only complicate my healing." He explained. Link sat back down and blinked twice.
"Healing from...Jane?" He asked, playing ignorant and the Pharaoh sweatdropped again. "I thought things were going well, after all, you took her out on a date."
"It was not a date." Yami confirmed and Link raised a brow.
"It wasn't?" He paused, "But you guys seemed so-"
"Jane is involved with someone else." Yami sighed without looking at him, figuring that everyone will find out eventually. "That's all."
Link sighed, partially relieved it came from the Pharaoh first. And looking back at all they've been through, even if he hadn't known from Lucia, it was obvious to anyone who it was.
"Yuu?" Link asked. The Pharaoh only nodded to confirm. "Damn it."
It was silent again and Link smiled.
"Maybe she doesn't like guys who wear makeup." He said. Yami sighed.
"I appreciate the effort, but I am not in the position to be laughing."
"I know..." Link said, "And we'll get through this I promise."
*Vibe ~ Text from Link's Boss
"...after work. We'll talk soon. Stay strong, Pharaoh."
And with that, Link was gone.
Later That Afternoon
4:00pm
Jane, Lucia, Mai, Duke, Link, Yugi, Joey, and Junior.
Tristen went home.
Pharaoh still at the museum.
The snow hadn't yet stopped falling in Savannah Georgia and it was becoming the first and, likely hardest, snowfall of the year for this area. Everyone huddled together on the couches by the fireplace, using the flames to roast their giant marshmellows. They had crackers, nutella hot coco and other goodies spread out on the coffee table in front of them next to the centre piece bowl filled with candy. Link was the only exception to this, who was near the fire place behind the left couch, playing on his Mai's keyboard at low volume while taking breaks and pauses, writting the notes he likes and conjuring up a potential tune.
Jane had the silly idea to use sticks to roast them as if they were camping out and now everyone used the wooden shish kabob sticks from the kitchen and sticking the marshmellows onto them like so. Lucia put a spoon full of nutella onto a cracker, smacked it onto her marshmellow and put it all in her mouth at once, feelings satisfied and cozy. Yugi came from the kitchen, sitting down and dumping even more goodies on the counter.
"Candy bars?" Jane wondered.
"Dibs on the candy bars." Joey said quickly.
"Oouu, chips~" Jane preferred.
"Dibs on the chips." Joey said.
"Canned fruit?" Yugi added, pushing them toward Joey as well. Nothing was said.
"...Soda?" Yugi tried.
"Dibs on the Soda." Joey added and Link laughed.
"So Tristen left in a hurry." Link commented as he joined them on the couches. Lucia sighed.
"Yeah I don't think we'll be seeing much of him for a while." She said.
Yugi blinked. "Joey, I don't think you should be roasting the candy bars..."
"Back off. I know what I'm doin'."
Jane checked her phone, looking at the time and and thinking about the Pharaoh.
"Dang it. The heat controls are in the basement but the Pharaoh's got the stinkin' keys." Joey complained, feeling cold. He immeditaly pulled Mai into an embrace to warm up.
Both Lucia and Jane sat on either side of Link who was always the warmest in the house with his burning hot and buff torso. The guy was a living heater.
"Instead of huddling, we should do something active. That will warm us up." Link said, who was feeling a little embaressed being pushed up against by two cute girls. Jane's gaze shot up.
"You know what I've been wanting to play with you guys for months now?" Jane began. "Twister."
"I am so down." Lucia said as a matter of fact, "I think it's sad that we haven't already tried it."
"What's Twister?" Joey, Link, Duke and Yugi asked at the same time. Jane's jaw dropped and she hopped off the couch.
"I'll be right back." She said with excitment, rushing up the stairs in her skinny tights, sweat shirt and fat slippers with an adorable Luna racing her the way up. Link scratched his head when his right side felt a chill.
"I worry." he joked. Mai chuckled.
"I don't know if you guys will love this...or despise this." She said with a devious grin.
When Jane returned, she held a white box in her arms with drawings on it that were concealed by her hands. She pushed some of the goodies aside on the coffee table to make room and set it down.
"Alright, Link. I need you to move the couches. We are going to need at least 6 square feet free for this." She said. Link blinked twice and Lucia growled. Having Link get up will take away her warmth.
Even so, he stood up and pulled the only couch back that had no obstacles behind as far back as he thought was enough without Mai and Joey having to get off. Jane opened the box and spread out the colored circle mat onto the ground and pinned them down on the courners with the coffee table part of the rug.
"Ok. So! This is how you play..."
Museum
Yami's P.O.V
The crowd was slowly dissipating with every hour and my anxiety only increased, knowing that the closer the night came, the sooner I would have to face her. I've considered the possibility of returning after hours...but her stubborn qualities will only stay up waiting for me.
I avoided the astronomy side of my museum, running away from what used to be a breath taking memory. I watched the people walk around and I mimicked them, pretending to admire what I've already seen countless times when in truth, I continued the war that was man versus himself.
"This place is amazing, I love that all the staff members are dressed like the people that the exhibits are representing," a boy said to me as we crossed paths. He had a note book in his hands and carried a navy blue school bag. I made the assumption he was a student. "But you really stand out! Like a king! What are you representing, sir?"
"The nameless Pharaoh," I told him. "From 5000 BC in Ancient Egypt."
"The nameless Pharaoh? Why didn't he have a name?"
I tried to humour him and put on a false smile as the owner of this facility. "The name of this Pharaoh was said to be a password to ancient magic. It was kept secret to refrain from bandits acquiring it."
"Hey, cool." The boy said, "Hey you look sort of familiar though."
I shook my head. "Must be your imagination."
The boy waved goodbye and continued on to another exhibit. I am sure he's seen me before on this dimensions cartoon Yu-Gi-Oh! . Looking at the boy move on, I noticed his school bag was identical, with the exception of color, as Jane's. I sighed.
When I thought about her too much, I struggled to keep my balance. Every few minutes or so, I need to find a place to rest my head from the thought of anyone else having her. The thought of her looking at someone else the way I hoped she was looking at me...it causes me to feel bitter and defiled, like a cancer that broke out in me all on its own.
I rubbed my forehead with the intention to breath evenly. Perhaps I am making it worse on myself by staying here on my own for such a long while. As much as I wanted to avoid her for now, a part of me wanted to know so desperately what she was doing or if she was aware of my newly found knowledge.
I took hold of my cell phone and decided to call Yugi
Back At The House
Narrator's P.O.V
"Alright, Link. Right foot on blue." Jane dictated, watching Link, Duke, Lucia and Joey on the ground all twisted up. Joey was standing on all fours with his bottom at a 90 degree angle in the air facing Duke, avoiding all contact with him. Link had both feet and his right hand down with his left hand behind his back that he hasn't had the chance to use yet. Lucia was to his left on all fours as well but her back faced the floor. Duke had it easy. He laughed from above with only his feet down in place and his arms freely crossed, watching Joey and Lucia struggle to stay in the game. Link wasn't having a hard time at all with his incredible fitness.
"Alright wears blue?" Link said, looking around for the nearest blue circle to shift over to. "Hey Joey, watch your face. That's my butt."
"Nyah! That wasn't my face! It's Lucia's knee!" Joey said, hitting Lucia's leg.
"Joey! That's cheating! You'll make me lose my balance!" She complained. Link slowly moved his leg so that his foot touched blue, bringing him too close for comfert to Lucia. She didn't notice it, she just laughed when she saw his face worry.
"Getting difficult Link?" She teased. He rolled his eyes.
"Alright, my turn. Get ready, boys and girls." Mai said, taking the spinner from Jane. Yugi and Jane leaned against the back rest of the couch from behind it where Junior and Mai were sitting, watching the spinner curiously. She flicked the plastic arrow and waited.
"Duke, right foot on yellow, hun." She said. Everyone groaned.
"Easy." He said, moving over one circle. "Even Lady Luck has the hots for Duke Devlin."
Yugi took the spinner. "Ok my- huh?" Yugi stopped when his phone in his back pocket started to vibe. He handed the spinner to Junior. "Take over."
"Alright," Junior spun, "Joey, right foot on green."
"What!?" Joey complained, "That's impossible!"
"You gotta do it or you're out." Jane said. "At least try."
"Nyeehhhh..." Joey focused, twisting his right foot over his left, shaking so much to hold the pose that he looked like he was going to explode. "Alright! Hurry up so it can be my turn again!"
"Haha, ok ok!" Jane said, taking the spinner since Yugi was distracted. "Alright Lucia...left foot on yellow."
Link flinched. That would only bring her closer. Why did he have to be flustered around freakin' girls?
Lucia pushed her leg under Link and laughed. "Oh dear, I don't know how long my arms can hold out."
"Just think about that prize, Lucia. Loser treats the winner to any store bought item." Junior reminded her. Mai swiped the spinner.
"And Link, you're torture will be..." When the spinner stopped, she and Jane burst out laughing.
"What, what do I gotta do?" Link worried with a sweatdrop.
"Left hand on red..." Mai said. RED!? Link's left hand was finally coming into use... right around Lucia. He started to wonder if the prize was worth this torture.
"Today, LINK!" Joey said, still twisted and uncomfertable. Duke laughed, poking Joey and making him crazy. Link hestitated, but put his arm around Lucia and smacked his hand on red...also red himself.
Lucia flustered. "Uh, that's your closest red..?" She asked. Link sweatdropped. Their bodies were in full contact. Any closer and they would be able to feel more than they should.
Everyone laughed except for those two, and a shutter and a flash came with it. Chiickk~
"Junior!" Link complained as the little elf smiled without guilt. He captures everything.
"What's wrong, Link?" Duke asked, "Don't like being so close? I don't mind trading places with you." The dark haired gamer then used one of his free hands to push Link down, pressing him against Lucia even more.
"Hey!" They both complained and he only laughed, pushing harder.
Jane noticed Yugi still on his phone and immediately thought of the Pharaoh. "Yugi, is everything alright?"
"Uh," Yugi looked up to see Duke pushing Link down with both hands and Lucia squirming, trying to avoid as much contact as she could. He faked laughed as he had other things on his mind. "Will you excuse me?"
Yugi jogged up the stairs and into his room, shutting the door behind him. He looked at his phone again.
Pharaoh: How are things at home?
Yugi: It's sort of cold but everything is ok. When are you coming home?
Pharaoh: I'm staying the night at the museum. What is everyone doing?
Yugi: What? Why? Come home, Pharaoh! Please.
Yugi: Pharaoh?
When the Pharaoh stopped replying, Yugi immediately decided to call him. As the phone rang, he hoped he would pick up. At the last ring, he got lucky.
"Yes, Yugi?" The Pharaoh asked, hesitant to pick up but couldn't ignore his little Yugi.
"What do you mean you're staying there over night!? You have to come home, Pharaoh. This wont change anything." Yugi worried. The Pharaoh sighed.
"I'm just unsure how to behave at home." Yami said.
"What do you mean? We dicussed this last night!" Yugi said, wanting to raise his voice, but keeping it low. "You were going to act like you didn't know until you were ready to talk to her."
The Pharaoh stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "It's hopeless, Yugi. I can't pretend like that, she'll see right through my charade."
Yugi ran into the bathroom where it was sound proof and shut the door.
"Then I'll stay there with you!" Yugi said louder, "So that you're not by yourself."
"No Yugi, that will only make the others suspicious." The Pharaoh spoke quietly.
"Lucia and Link can help us out," Yugi said, "They'll cover for us."
The Pharaoh wasn't budging. He wanted to be alone and he knew Lucia was an awful lier. If he was alone in the museum, he could blame work. Having Yugi with him wouldn't make sense.
"No Yugi."
"But-"
"NO, Yugi."
Yugi sighed sadly. "But I've never been apart from you before, at least not by choice."
"...what are the others doing?" The Pharaoh asked and Yugi sighed again.
"If it's Jane you're asking for, she's down stairs dictating Twister with Mai and Junior."
"Is she...happy?"
"Sure, she's as blissful as ignorance. Does that count?" Yugi clarified.
"Alright...I'll be home tomorrow."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"You better mean that, Pharaoh. If you don't come home tomorrow, I'll tell Jane to go pick you up!" Yugi lied. He would never do that to him, but he hoped his bluff would pressure him.
"That wont be necessary, Yugi. I will be home."
"Alright..." Yugi said and the Pharaoh hung up.
**
Joey fell back on top of Link who pushed Lucia down with enough weight that her back hit the floor. Everyone else laughed.
"Wait, are Lucia and Link out even though Joey caused the fall?" Junior asked. Jane shrugged as she looked at the box.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so." She said, "Duke is the winner."
Duke bowed in victory and flaunted at the others. "I win." He said. "And Joey, since you lost balance first, that makes you the loser."
"Nyah!" Joey stood to his feet, "It better be something I can afford Devlin! Don't go too crazy!"
Duke smiled, crossing his arms. "I want a kareoke machine." He said. "Instulled right here."
Everyone blinked. "That's a great idea, actually." Jane said, who also enjoyed to sing.
"A singin' machine?" Joey wondered. "How much do those go for?"
Mai laughed. "No less than a couple hundred bucks, that's for sure."
"WHAT!?" Joey complained, "A couple hundred?"
"That's not expensive." Duke said and Joey huffed.
"Not for you, mister rich owner of a gaming company." Joey complained. Duke raised a brow.
"I'm sorry, I thought champion duelists won a lot of prize mone-oh that's right, you're just the runner up every time. My mistake."
Joey growled in anger and Lucia patted his shoulder, trying to keep him calm.
"How about this," Jane suggested, "Joey can treat us all to a karaoke night some time in the city and if we like the idea, we can all pitch in for a machine at home."
"We don't need a whole karaoke machine, Link's the only one who sings." Joey whined.
"I sing!" Jane crossed her arms.
"And I wanna learn," Mai added. "KAITO has already been giving me some lessons."
"Singing lessons, you mean your dates?" Joey said, jealous.
"What?" Lucia said confused. Jane shook her head.
"Joey, why do you talk?" She asked. Joey blinked.
"What? I know that KAITO is after my woman." Joey said dumbfoundedly.
Mai sighed. "Where did you get that idea from?"
Joey shrugged. "I don't know you're always together, I just thought-"
"You and Dee used to be together all the time. Would you date her?" Jane asked. Joey flinched.
"Ew no! She was like my-"
"KAITO is like my fabulous brother," Mai said, holding Joey's hand. "Don't worry, Joey. I'm not going anywhere."
"You betta not." He blushed.
Jane raised a brow and Lucia yawned.
"Right, so how late is it? I am already getting exhausted." She said.
"Looks like it's already 11!" Yugi said surprised, "We better get ready to call it a night."
Jane lightly gasped. "Where's Yami?"
Yugi frowned. "Oh, he's staying over night at the museum. It got really busy."
"Wow, really?" Junior commented, "That's never happened before!"
"Yeah, I stopped by earlier, it was intense." Link added. Everyone who knew about the Pharaoh's current depression all shared guilty glances and Jane immediately became suspicious.
First, he's no where to be found for over 38 hours. Then he doesn't tell her about the museum. Then, he doesn't want his friends there, now he's staying over night? What the hell!?
That was enough for her. She was going to find him.
"Ok...I'll go get ready for bed then," She lied, rushing upstairs to get out of her Pjs. She threw her walk in closet open upset. Why the hell was Yami staying at the museum over night? She looked through her dresses and grabbed her favorite black one and began to strip. She had to look decent in case the place was still open and full of people. She rushed to the mirror and fixed up her hair, tying it up into a topsy turvey and shoving her feet into her short heel boots.
When she reached the bottom, she headed straight for the front foor.
"Where are you going?" Joey asked and Jane flinched.
"...to the convenient store." She lied again, opening the door and shut it before anyone could question her.
"Why did she dress up for the store...?" Lucia asked. Duke sweatdropped.
"She's going to go see the Pharaoh." He said bluntly.
"Should we stop her?" Link asked and Yugi sighed.
"...No." He said.
Jane shut the car door and started the engine. The second car they used for emergencies.
She hated driving, especially in the dead of night and in Savannah Georgia where she was completely unfamiliar with. She didn't care. As she reversed, she thought only of Yami.
When she found her way to the museum, she noticed that there were almost no filled parking spaces. She swallowed a lump in her throat when she realized she was alone...watching causes her imagination to run wild.
She climbed out of the vehicle tucked into her long jacket and held herself together as she entered through the front using the key that the Pharaoh gave to her. Locking the doors behind her, she opened her jacket so she was comfortable and let herself into the first exhibit of Ancient Egypt.
"Yami?" She asked. There was no one around. Had it not been for the shining gold on the walls, the room would be nearly pitch black. Jane looked around for any light switches and when she saw that they were no where to be found, she realized that they were probably in a control panel somewhere away from visitors reach. She huffed.
"Shoulda brought a weapon.." She whispered to herself, still freaked out. She walked slowly through the hall, being careful not to knock into anything until she made a turn into an exhibit with beautiful art of intriguing dragons. Likely a Chinese History exhibit. She sqinted, barely able to see the details. "Yami, are you here?" She asked in a shaky voice and sighed.
"What the hell am I doing here anyway." She asked herself, then she lost track of where she was and pumped right into a pillar head first.
"...OW! God dammit!" She complained, rubbing her head. "What the?" She blindly felt the surface of what she hit and growled. "Really!?"
She leaned her head against the pillar, rubbing the side where she bumped it and worrying. If Yami was staying here over night, why would he leave all the lights off? Was he upstairs? Maybe in one of the staff rooms? ...What if he's gone home already?
She just stood there in the dark wondering what the point of being here really was. Should she just go home? It was obvious that Yami wasn't here...
At the same time that she sighed, the lights for her section turned on. Jane looked up in confusion wondering what set them on and she quickly turned around with focused eyes and froze when she found the source.
The Pharaoh was here. He was standing there in the hall near a control panel on the wall, wearing his full garbs from his days as the Egyptian King and he was watching her with wide eyes – what was she doing here so late?
"Yami." Jane immediately smiled and jogged her way over to him, granting herself permission to throw her arms around him into a tight and honest embrace. Still in shock, the Pharaoh hesitated at first but returned the gesture. Her scent was just as he liked it and he sighed in dissapointment. He still had nothing to say.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in days," Jane looked up without letting him go. "Why didn't you come home tonight?"
The Pharaoh didn't answer her. He just looked at her, for the first time since he learned the truth. He didn't speak. Jane blinked and loosened her grip.
"What's wrong, are you sick?" She asked, putting a hand on the side of his face to feel his temperature. "Why don't we find you something cool to drink?"
The Pharaoh was shaking. She was still acting the same as usual and he wondered how she could possibly do this when she had someone else in her heart. He pulled away in a cruel manner and began walking past her toward the pillar she had been standing by before.
"No, thank you." He said coldly. Jane turned around worried.
"Uh," she said, following him slowly, even though she was nearly 6 meters away. "...ok. Why don't we make our way home then...?"
Yami noticed she was keeping a distance and felt it was easier to think. He leaned against the golden piller in the middle of the hall and tried to conjur up a strategy to get rid of her.
When the Pharaoh didn't reply, Jane cleared her throat. "Is...everything alright?"
Now that the lights were on, Jane could see the beauty of the exhibit that glowed from chinese laterns and stood out from the beautiful carvings on the stone walls. Along the walls were rare and amazing artifacts and in the middle of the hall were a few pillars, each framing a chinese style bench with swirling gold trim and and bright red designs. It was a beautiful set up for sure, but she was far too invested in her paranoia to appreciate it.
She began to walk closer to him and noticed this his posture tensed up the closer she got to him. She stopped a few feet away and waited. Waited for him to speak.
"Why are you here?" The Pharaoh finally managed to say after several long seconds. "It's much too late."
Jane shivered at the sound of his deep voice.
"I heard you were staying the night and I got worried." She answered.
"You have nothing to be worried over," He said in a half whisper. "Go home."
Jane blinked. "Hey...cut me some slack. It took a lot of guts for me to come all the way down here by myself this late." She said, "Can you...at least escort a girl home?"
Yami didn't budge. He just put a hand on the piller for balance and stayed silent. Jane sighed. As attractive as his back view was, she would like to see a persons face when she's speaking to them.
"You know I hit my head pretty hard," Jane tried small talk, "Do you have some ice or something?"
"...There is plenty at home." He said in a breathy voice. "Now, leave."
Jane's heart set off. What was going on?
"W...why are you being so cold to me?" She asked. No reply.
She walked closer to him to see his face. He avoided her gaze so she put her hand on his on the piller and waited for him to turn around.
"Did I do something wrong?" She asked. Yami took a deep breath and tried to put on his usual poker face.
"That's an understatement." He replied. He decided that now's as good time as any.
Jane's eyes flew open.
"I...but..." Jane was suprised, retracing her steps the last two days and wondering what she missed. "I didn't know I did anything to-" She paused, "Please, tell me what I've done so I can apologize."
Yami finally looked at her with dark eyes of betrayal. This made Jane shutter, feeling very sad and scared of him. Yami pulled his hand away from hers.
"Are you suggesting that there's nothing you can recall that you've done wrong to me?"
The Pharaoh asked, "Something...mortifying?"
Jane shrugged her shoulders. "I...I can't remem-"
"Please don't." The Pharaoh said, "You've fabricated this long enough."
Jane was frozen. She was scared to breathe, let alone speak. She honestly couldn't recall doing anything that could anger the Pharaoh to this extent. Unless...
Jane put her hands over her mouth. She was shaking now as well.
"Did...someone...tell you something?" Jane suspected, hoping to God it wasn't what she thought.
Yami clentched a fist. What kind of a question is that?
"So, you fear that someone might have manifested something you didn't want known?" The Pharaoh asked in an almost growl, his posture giving her his full attention. "What might that be?"
He wanted her to say it, but she was still in denial.
"No, I just-"
"That's enough. Get out." He said, "I don't want to discuss this if you'll only refuse to tell me."
Jane became tired of the interruptions and the attitude.
"Tell you what!?" She said in annoyence. Yami smacked the pillar with his left hand in extreme anger, causing Jane to jump.
"I ASKED YOU if Yuu was something I should be concerened about and you said no."
The Pharaoh said, nearing the end of his sentance with a cracking voice. "I put my trust in you, and you dishonoured me..."
The Pharaohs tone turned quiet and his eyes were reflective. With the sight of this and the words he spoke, Jane's eyes copied him. It was silent for a few seconds before Yami turned around when he felt himself lose control of his emotions.
As much as Jane would like to know how the Pharaoh found out, that was the last thing she would ask him with the state he was in. The tears ran down her face because she couldn't handle seeing Yami this way. She could sense how dissapointed he was and she worried that he would never trust her again.
"I'm sorry." Jane said, voice cracking. "I wanted to tell you since the first day we all met, I really did."
The Pharaoh pulled himself together and was able to stop his eyes from creating any more moisture. He took a deep breath and turned around curiously.
"And why didn't you?" He said calmly, feeling guilty for making Jane cry.
"Because..." Jane tried to summarize. "Because I didn't think you would ever want me."
The Pharaoh focused his eyebrows, not understanding what she meant and Jane whiped her tears with the sleave of her jacket.
"I was crazy about you before we even met or before I knew you existed." She explained, "When I met you, I thought I was so out of your league. I didn't tell you that I was dating Yuu because I was living in a fantasy. I felt like if you didn't know then it wasn't real and I could love you as much as I wanted without guilt...I never thought in a million years that you would ever return my feelings."
The Pharaoh's heart skipped a beat. She's loved him all along...and this was the first time she's ever admitted it to him...but it didn't change his feelings, he was still too upset. He decided to continue to listen to her story.
"So when you started showing affection I panicked. I was happy but I avoided you because I knew I was lieing." She paused.
"Why did you stay with him then?" The Pharaoh asked confused.
"What?"
"You didn't have to lie all this time. You could have put an end to things long before." He clarified.
Jane sighed and looked down. It was upsetting that he had to find out the truth about him when she had already decided to call it off. It was just bad timing. Then she remembered.
"I'm going to break up with him." She said. The Pharaoh rubbed his forehead.
"Do you think that will change how I feel?" He asked, "I'm not upset that you are in a relationship, I am upset because you lied when you did not have to. You could have easily made your choice and left the other behind."
Jane put a hand on the Pharaoh's chest.
"But Yami, you were always my choice." She explained.
"Then why deceive me!?" He said, slightly louder than standard volume. Jane looked down.
"...Yuu is a really amazing person." She paused, "At first it was because I didn't think you'd like me, sure, but...I've only taken this long to break up with him because I don't have the guts."
"You...lack courage?"
"Yuu is the definition of a perfect boyfriend, he does everything right!" Jane complained. "If I break up with him, he'll ask me why and-"
Jane shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "What am I going to say? Sorry Yuu, I fell in love with someone else? Despite you always being there, giving me all I need and doing nothing wrong at all, that still wasn't enough for me?"
The Pharaoh's sadness was beginning to evaporate. With Jane's explanation, he was begining to understand her point of view.
"I see." He said. "Yuu doesn't deserve what you've done any less than I do," He said, "He's a good man."
Jane half smiled. "He is."
It was silent for a moment and then the Pharaoh become sad again.
"Jane," he started, catching her attention. "The lie wasn't what upset me the most."
He took a few steps around the pillar by the surrounding bench. Jane blinked twice and followed.
"Wh...well then what was it...?" She worried. Yami sighed.
"It was the thought of someone else having you." He said, putting a strong hand on her cheek. "The thought of you looking at someone the way I've known you to look at me - after I've already alleged you as mine."
Jane blushed. "I don't think I've ever looked at him the way I look at you."
Yami grinned. "I've longed for you to speak such words," He paused, "I held myself back...and my grieving thirst that I had to take you."
Jane clenched the linen on his chest. "Well, nothing's stopping you now..."
The Pharaoh squinted in desperation, leaned in slowly and kissed her. It was beautiful but short. He pulled away immedietly and sat himself down on the bench. Jane bit her lip. She wasn't pleased with that move.
"But there is," The Pharaoh replied. "Until you dismantle things with Yuu, I can not persue you anymore."
"I told you I'll-"
Jane tripped over the bottom of the pillar and the Pharaoh caught her, slowly putting helping her sit down beside him. He chuckled at her for the clumsiness.
"...dump him." She finished, scratching the back of her head, embaressed.
"Then I will come for you once you have." He paused, "It's just respect. I wont take what is already taken."
Jane pursed a lip. "Hmph, you make that sound so easy."
"Oh, it will be anything but easy," The Pharaoh said, noticing her loosened jacket coming off. "It never was. Especially now, sitting near me with a capturing iris, handsome long hair and a short gown off the shoulder..." He chuckled, "A strong provocking low-cut."
Jane blushed with a smile and leaned closer to the kind.
"Are you suggesting that I'm...sexy?" She played. The Pharaoh looked at her casually.
"Without Question," He said and turned his face away when Jane made the move for another kiss.
Yami laughed softly at a memory.
"This reminds me of that night you put your leg over me a few months ago, do you recall that?" He asked.
Jane blushed. "Well...you...I mean...you weren't flirting with me like usual so I was just checking to see if you-"
"I knew you yearned for me." The Pharaoh said, "I always knew. It just feels good to know that I wasn't percieving it and that it's really true."
"I remember." Jane couldn't control herself. The Pharaoh was speaking in that perfect voice, with that perfect face...implying that she was turning him on and in his Pharaoh outfit on top of that. Neither of them could believe what she did next.
"I did something like this." She said, standing up and bringing her leg over him so that she sat on his lap, one leg on each side, facing him. She put her hands on his chest softly and seductively.
The Pharaoh had a poker face, but in his mind were wild thoughts. Suprised he was.
He placed his hands on her thighs and looked at her, waiting for her next move.
"And I remember you completely rejecting me too," She said with a raised brow and the Pharaoh smiled, trying to keep his eyes on her face when he noticed that her short dress was rising up in response to her spread limbs, casuing a subtle redness to plaster his face. Jane noticed this and she blinked twice.
"Are..." She smiled, "Is the mighty Pharaoh actually blushing?"
The Pharaoh avoided her gaze.
"Impossible," He lied, still with his mind on the fact that her sacred quarter was just inches from his own.
"You are," She laughed, "I like that look on you."
She was flirting with him more than ever.
The Pharaoh was in complete bliss with the standing of the situation that all he could do was admire her. And slowly, he was forgetting everything else and thinking nothing of the beauty that hovered over him. Instinctively, the Pharaoh caressed his hands over her shoulders, pushing her coat back and listening to the sound it made when it dropped to the floor. Jane allowed this like she removed it herself. Yami griped her her upper thighs with his strong hands and Jane could feel the gold from his rings pressing against her flesh as his breathing suddenly became deeper.
"...May I?" He asked, as his hands slowly slid higher and his face moved closer. Too many butterflies emerged in her stomach and she didn't even know what he was asking. May he what?She was so invested in his scent that she couldn't find the will to speak. Since she didn't protest, the Pharaoh assumed consent and he immediately released a strong sigh when their lips pulled together and his hands lightly brushed her bottom and up to her lower back. Jane put her fragile arms around and behind Yami's neck, waving her body closer to him so that their torso's touched. The kiss got deeper and the Pharaoh pulled her lower body even closer, so that not an inch seperated them. Jane noticed this, and rocked her hips in response as she decided to explore as well, touching and feeling the shape of his arms and chest and getting to know his body on a level she didn't know before.
The intimacy brought the Pharaoh at the edge of his seat, having to hold her with his strength to prevent her from falling. The pace picked up, their bodies were moving...Jane's dress had risen far enough to reveal her lingerie and the Pharaoh intended to remove it completely until they had to pull away endearment to breathe.
When this happened, Jane hid her face under his neck and they both stayed there, panting and catching their breaths from that short but intense moment, slowing down their curious hands. With every inhale, Yami's right mind began to return and he closed his eyes, tightly holding the girl as though he'd wake up from a dream if he let her go.
Jane sighed. "I wanted to do that for a while..."
The Pharaoh smiled but shook his head. "That was completely wrong and irresponsible."
Jane pulled back to see his face and blinked twice. The Pharaoh held her tightly as he stood to his feet and kept her close while her feet touched the floor. Still with their bodies in contact, he pulled the bottom of her dress down without looking so that she was completely covered again.
"This is the last time you make me lose self control." He said with a serious look.
"No one can force someone to do something they wouldn't already do on their own." Jane said, picking up her jacket. Yami sweatdropped. She's cunning.
"You've managed to convince me to to return to the house," He paused, "But we still have much to discuss..."
Jane put on her jacket in confusion. "We do? What else is there?"
Yami was already feeling tired as it was past hours. He didn't want to tell her what was left and risk the chance of having to talk about it when he was in need of a desperate hibernation from all the stress he's Indored the last 2 days.
"After you've spoken to Yuu," Yami said, "We will talk. But until then, our relationship becomes strictly professional, understood?"
Jane pursed a lip. How can he be so attractive with his classiness and so not? She groaned and then played it cool.
"Alright," she shrugged, passing the Pharaoh and brushing her breasts against his arm as she walked. "If you can keep it so."
Jane began to leave the museum, walking ahead of him and Yami just watched her leave, completely moved by her and stunned by the status of his love for her. How ironic that just a few days ago, he was chasing a stubborn girl who played hard to get. And now, she's completely offering herself and he is the one being forced to hold back? It took everything he had just now not to finish what they nearly started and he as amazed with himself that he was even able to refuse her.
He sighed. "What a nuisance." He said smiling.
The Next Morning
10am BackYard
Yugi, Link, Junior, Duke, Joey and Lucia
The snowfall became a blizzard over night and it had finally settled with sunrise. The snow was of packing quality and this was known to the heros of Savannah Georgia thanks to Duke and Joey who were the first out the door to test it. Yugi, Junior, Link and Lucia decided to build a snow man while Little Link played in the snow nearby and Duke and Joey have begun to stack up on ammo, agreeing to a war as soon as they've created enough snowballs and a stable fort.
Lucia blushed looking at Link in his usual hero attire as it was warm enough for the cold, except he had on a pair of blue ear muffs matching his blue full-fingered gloves. All that was missing was his scarf to match...she had been meaning to give it to him but it's not yet finished. She watched him pat down the snow onto the base of their snowman.
"Look!" Junior interrupted her thoughts when he showed her two pairs of pointy, triangular shaped rocks. "Gumball found them!"
Link chuckled. "What are those for?"
Junior held the rocks over his ears. "He can be a hylian!" They laughed.
"Now why didn't I guess that?" Yugi played.
Duke closed down a loose button on his jacket, making sure he was nicely snug and shielded for the upcoming war. He laughed to himself, intentionally wearing something to camoflauge in the snow, unlike Joey who was wearing bright colours in total contrast against his fort.
"Almost done there, Joey?" Duke asked as he continued to pile up more snowballs.
"Just wait, Devlin. You don't know what's coming to you." He replied.
Just then, the Pharaoh came out for some air, also covered up in a blue turtleneck, dark snug wool pants and his usual boots. When everyone else noticed him, they looked in suprise. He came home extremely late with Jane and by the time they returned, everyone had fallen asleep without any idea that he was home at all. Most were afraid to say anything.
"Hey, Yami! Did you end up figuring everything out?" Duke asked with a smile, standing up from his side of the war field and walked slowly to the king. He was picking up the girls habit calling him Yami. Yugi sweat-dropped.
"Pharaoh," He corrected, "Good Morning."
"So, Jane left last night to go after you. Did you guys have a quick make up-make out sesh?" Duke asked. Joey blinked twice.
"Dude!" He defended for Yami and Lucia and Link just shared glances.
Yami grinned and winked at the boy subtly. Link rose to his feet immediately.
"Everything alright Pharaoh?" He asked. The Pharaoh nodded.
"Please. Thank you for your concern but we no longer have to discuss this anymore." He said, hoping they would all drop it. Just as that second, Jane joined them outside looking adorable as ever. She wore black tights under a goth red and black lolitta style dress with a long black winter coat over it and a snug beige scarf and matching mittens and leg warmers. She looked at the Pharaoh right away waiting for his usual wink, compliment or date invitation.
"Good morning." Was all he said. Jane nearly failed to hold back her smile, trying to keep the same pokerface as him.
"Morning." She replied, quickly walking into the field to join Lucia by her snowman and shield her expression.
"Jane... you're doing the extra cute again." Lucia said as she came closer.
Link and Duke looked at the Pharaoh who had a sweatdrop over his head, completly aware of what they must be thinking. Link grunted.
"Alright, what happened last night?" He asked. The Pharaoh wasn't suprised to hear that question, in fact he was sure everyone was wondering the same thing. Duke laughed.
"Don't you recognize the glow on their faces?" He said, "That's the fresh face of a man who just got laid."
Yami smirked and crossed his arms. Duke elbowed him in the arm lightly and Link winked.
"I guess maybe she does have a thing for guys with make up, huh Pharaoh?" Link joked.
"That or it was the Pharaoh outfit that turned her on, huh Yami." Duke added.
"Pharaoh." He corrected again without looking at him.
"Is that what she yelled when you fu-"
"Duke, that is super disrespectful and none of our business!" Link intterupted.
Yami shook his head. "It's alright Link. Nothing occured, at least not what he's suggesting."
Duke laughed as he was only messing around. But the Pharoah did wink at him before, so something went on or he wouldn't be so shiny right now...and starring at Jane by the snow.
Duke waved his hand in front of Yami and he chuckled when he realized himself that he was watching. He stretched a bit just by pushing his elbows and shoulders back and sighed.
"Alright, I better head to town, there's something I need to start thinking about." He said, walking back inside. Duke raised a brow.
"Devlin!" Joey called, laughing mythodically. "Muahah! I am ready, peasant!"
Duke laughed and jogged back to his fort. "Prepare for some life threatening frost bites, Joseph. You'll be bathing in hot water for weeks!"
"Are you saying that I have a bo problem?" Joey asked.
Duke face-palmed, as did Jane, Lucia and Junior who heard this.
"Actually I wasn't," Duke rolled his eyes, "...but if the shoe fits..."
"What are ya, Cinderella now? Stop talkin' crazy dice boy!" Joey yelled from his fort.
"Amazing that he's such a skilled duelist." Lucia blinked. Jane and Yugi laughed.
"He could be incredibly lucky, maybe?" Yugi tried.
"Maybe he's so smart and uses reverse psychology to confuse his aponents in battle." Jane theorized.
"I think he's just dumb." Junior said.
"It's no fun insulting you 'cause you're too stupid to get it!" Duke yelled back. Joey laughed sarcastically.
"Let's see if your tough talk matches your snowballin' skills!" He said, throwing one at Duke, thoroughly missing without Duke having to move from his spot in his fort.
Everyone witnessing laughed and Joey flinched, immediately ducking behind his short fort. Too short, in fact that his bright blue bottom was in perfect view.
Right away, two huge snow balls squashed Joey into the snow and Mai was there behind the fort with Duke who high fived him for the perfect shot.
Lucia's draw dropped. "BUT HOW!?" She yelled. Mai had been hiding behind Duke's fort the entire time.
"A prepared war captain carries reinforcements!" Duke said. Mai then stuffed an oreo into her mouth and passed one to Duke.
"Of every kind!" She added laughing with her mouth full. Joey sprouted from the snow fast like a video on forward.
"Mai! You traita!" Joey complained, "I thought we had somethin' special!"
"Oh Joey, just because we're engaged doesn't mean I don't like destroying you anymore." She said.
"Grrr, you can't have Mai helping you! That's an unfair match!" He complained. Duke shook his head.
"Not really. Think of it as a three way duel and Mai and I happen to be using all our combos on you."
Jane laughed out loud. "He's not wrong!"
Joey growled. "Link! Help me out, would ya?" He asked before realizing through the sliding glass doors that Link was inside talking to the Pharaoh. "Nyah! Uh, Lucia, Yugi, come over here and bring your snow man!"
"What, why?" Lucia blinked as the snow balls from Duke and Mai started flushing at Joey's fort.
"TO THROW at them!" He yelled through the laughter. Lucia panicked but followed her gut instinct to crawl and join Joey behind his fort. Yugi didn't join, hoping to avoid the hectic scene and stayed with Jane.
"This is what you call a fort?" Lucia insulted. Duke laughed.
"I know it's a piece of shit, right? We can see his ass when he ducks." He said, Mai laughing along.
"That's a bad word, Duke." Junior comments.
"So is bastard, but that just means your parents aren't married." Duke compared, throwing snow.
"So when you say shit, you mean poop, right Duke?" Jane said sternly for Junior.
"No, shit just means Joseph Wheeler."
"THAT'S IT!" Joey yelled.
"Oh that one you got?" Duke yelled back. Mai face-palmed.
"Yeah! You're insultin' me using manure!" Joey complained.
"Yeah, I got that one from a friend of mine. Last name Sherlock, first name No Shit!" He said.
At this point Jane was on the floor, holding her stomach together. "Duke, stop I – ahaha, I can't!"
Lucia blinked watching this. "Wow, he's destroying you with words alone."
Joey pulled his sleeves back despite the cold. "I'M SENDING YOU BACK TO THE DICE DUNGEON PAL!"
* *
"So what are you heading into town for?" Link asked. The Pharaoh stretched a bit to look over Link's shoulder, making sure the others were still outside. He gestured for him to follow deeper into the house and when they were by the fish tank, still in sight, Yami smiled.
"She's mine." He said confidently, hands in his pockets. Link blinked a few times. He wasn't sure if Yami knew how much he knew, and he didn't know how much Yami knew much at all about what he knew. He sighed and decided to pretend he was in the same boat as he was before even moving to Savannah Georgia.
"You've said that before," Link said. "Is it finally happening?"
"Soon," Yami said with a hand to his chin, wondering how long he should wait before asking Jane if she's called things off with Yuu. He would also like to discuss a very important question he had in mind for her: How far did they go? That he was curious. But there was something else on his mind entirely.
"I just have one thing in mind that's crucial." He added.
Link crossed his arms. "What's that?" Yami smiled.
"In just over a month," He started, "It's her birthday."
Link's eyes widened, remembering that the year before went by with no celebrations of any kind to honor one of their most valued friends. Diana. He grunted at this.
"That's right!" He said, "We can celebrate those now. Are you going to put some sort of surprise for her?"
The Pharaoh shook his head. He was acting on nothing but hope. Hope that she would resolve all things with Yuu by that time so that he could do something for her on her special day. He was keeping the poker face on, but it was hard.
"I have no plans at the moment," He said, "but a walk on my own is well required. I have had a rather stressful last few days and her birthday is only going to build on that."
Link nodded. "I understand," he said, "You and me both."
"Hm?" The Pharaoh paused, "What's troubling you?"
Link didn't have to tell the Pharaoh that Diana was upsetting him. In fact, he was embarrassed to say that after all this time he still thought about her! It angered him but he couldn't help it.
"I've been...getting these strange migraines lately." He explained, "Like it isn't pain. It feels...dark."
Yami arched his eyebrows. The shadows? He shook his head with doubt.
"You're likely still over tired," He explained. "Mentally. From...certain thoughts perhaps?"
Link didn't respond. He just starred at the ground. Yami strongly tapped Link's shoulder.
"It will pass." He said and Link sighed, beginning to whisper.
"You know I..." He said, "had a vivid dream about her before she...you know."
Yami listened and Link said this as quietly as he could. "..in it I...I was gunna marry her."
Yami shook his head, doubtfully. "Marriage is a promise of eternal love. As a man of honor, I can assure you that you cannot promise eternally what you've never felt momentarily."
"No, I know, it was just a dream after all." Link replied, "Though, I know it's crazy but, I always sort of hope that she'll...well...come back."
Yami's brows focused. "That is a speculation, Link." He said sternly, "That likely will not happen."
"Yeah," Link said in a breathy voice. "I know."
The Pharaoh felt sorry for the warrior, but he knew it would pass. He was surprised when the girl left as well, and it was the surprise that impacted everyone most. He could see that, for Link, it was the surprise as well as the confusion. He couldn't understand her while she was around and couldn't understand her decision to not be. The Pharaoh smiled reassuringly.
"Time cures all, my friend." He said, "Have courage."
Link smiled. "You know it."
"I am sure in a few more weeks, the topic will no longer interest you." He added.
"Maybe." He answered. Still. The headaches didn't feel like ordinary headaches to him...
"That's some Voodooo right there!" Joey yelled in the background.
"Was that a curve ball!? With Snow!?" Lucia complained with him.
Link and Yami exchanged glances with a smile. A smile of gratitude for their blessings with a life that's never boring.
"Joey...you're not going to make the snowballs harder by blowing on them..." Yugi said.
"Back off. I know what I'm doing."
A/N: A lonnngg but epic chapter, one of my favourites for reasons of YamixJane plus Duke vs Joey, I just like comedy! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I told ya things were getting worse!
