Yugi stared in awe at the lodge that was in front of him, it was a two story manor looking building completely made out of wooden logs that fitted perfectly into place. Each room on the top floor had impressive balconies that had vines tangling the railings and a rimu table with long seats that accommodated 3 people each side. It looked warm and welcoming but very elite which was made obvious by the two stored size front doors that had intricate carvings of ferns. Leading up to the front door was a dirt path lined with more ferns and grey stepping stones that had a type of shell Yugi had never seen before pressed into it. Surrounding the house was nothing but native bush and Yugi shuddered at the thought of bugs, he remembered watching a show where a man had eaten a weta the size of a hand In New Zealand and he hoped that they weren't in this area.

"Kaiba rented this whole place? For just us?" he asked Kya who was standing next to him and he noticed a frown plastered on her face.

"Annoyingly yes, this lodge is usually meant to hold around 20 people but Seto being the way he is booked the whole place. Sometimes I can't stand when he does things like this, I love meeting new people and booking the whole place takes away from the experience of this trip" Kya sighed and picked up her bags "At least I managed to convince him not to hire the staff that comes with this place, the thought of having people wait on us makes me so uncomfortable, were meant to be roughing it not living it up in a five star lodge"

"You could have asked him to keep the chef on at least Kya! We're both terrible cook's except for Yugi!" Ryou piped up, Kya glared at the white haired boy which only made him smile at her brightly "Oh come on, we both know we have the potential to poison us!"

"Hey, I don't mind cooking guys, I find it therapeutic! As long as the kitchens all stocked up I'll make sure were fed well" The three made their way into the lodge and was greeted by a staunch looking man who raised an eyebrow at them questionably

"Kya Tonaku I presume?" Kya nodded and he handed her over a set of keys "Right, groceries will be delivered every Sunday morning, housekeeping will be done every second Monday, you have a choice of any three rooms you like and in case of an emergency dial 111. There will be a car to pick all of you up at 9 am Monday to Friday and retrieve you from the mountain at 4pm. The rest of the information you need is all in the pack left on the dining room table along with my contact number if you need anything else. Please do your best to not destroy the place" the three friends gapped at the man's retreating back as he quickly closed the door, obviously not impressed at how young they were.

"Well that was…rude" Ryou frowned, confused at how the man had judged them so quickly. Kya just shrugged her shoulders

"What do you expect, he thinks that we're three 18 year olds with rich parents and are going to destroy the lodge by throwing raging parties the whole time we're here" There was a twinkle in her eye and she placed a hand on her curvy hip

"But you're the only 18 year old…" Yugi raised an eyebrow confused as Kya gave him her cheeky hundred watt smile that he had come to associate with trouble

"Well Shorty, Kaiba may have…lied about Ryou's and yours age to rent out this place, there was no way they would have given it to us if they knew there was only one person of age here" Yugi and Ryou smiled back at her before Yugi looked towards the stairs and made a run for them

"Shot gun the biggest room!" he quickly darted up the stairs and made his way down a long hall way towards a door at the very end of it that he could only assume as the master bedroom. He heard Kya's footsteps running behind him, yelling angrily about him cheating and something about being the oldest. He quickly wrenched open the door and jumped on the bed, putting his hands behind his head as she dashed in "To late Kya!"

"Damn you Shorty! Next month I'm getting the bigger room!" she stormed out and Yugi took his time to look around the room. There was the two doors that he had seen from outside that lead out to the balcony and next to them was a door he assumed was to the bathroom. In front of the bed was a fire place with a small pile off wood next to it and a 32 inch flat screen above it placed in an alcove in the wall to protect it from the rising heat. The bed he was on was a four post bed and he assumed it was a California King bed because it was far too big to be anything else. There were also various portraits that hung around the room and a small couch and chair set off to the side with a table in the middle.

"Can you believe this place Yugi? I haven't been in this kind of luxury since duelist kingdom!" Yugi smiled at Ryou who had collected his bags for him and place them in the corner

"It's insane and it feels so…homely as well" Ryou sat at the end of the bed and stared out the window towards the mountain looming in the distance "One more day and we get to conquer that beast" Yugi smiled nervously, he knew Kya was going to push him to his limits and the mountain looked intimidating.

"At least Kya was nice enough to give us a day of rest to get over this jet lag, that plane flight was so long and driving all the way here from Auckland airport took forever!" Yugi hopped off the bed and grabbed his backpack. "I should probably email Grampa and let him know we got here safe, do me a favour and take some pictures of this place for me to attach to it" Ryou nodded and took out Yugi's small Fuji camera while Yugi set himself up, not noticing the white envelope the slipped out and onto the floor.

Dear Grampa

Hope you don't miss me to much already! Were finally at the lodge, took us 5 and a half hours to drive from Auckland but it was worth it. New Zealand is so amazing to drive through, nothing like Domino. So many different types of terrain, one moment you're driving through cliff faces and the next your right beside a massive lake. Lake Taupo I think it was called. A lot of it was farm land though which wasn't all that interesting after a while but I tended to fall asleep so missed a lot of it. We're staying so close to the mountain, you can see it right from my room (I managed to get the master room!) Kya wasn't too happy about it but it's not my fault she was so slow. Kaiba has rented out an entire lodge for us in the middle of the national park, were basically in the middle of nowhere in a forest and I'm slightly creeped out at the thought of giant bugs but I'm sure the massive tv in my room will take my mind off them! I haven't seen the rest of the lodge yet, I thought I'd let you know we got here safe. Ryou's just taking some photos for me so you can see this place, it's absolutely crazy. We'll hope the shop isn't giving you too much trouble and don't push yourself with those heavy boxes, get Yami to help you out so you don't strain your back again!

Off to go explore this giant place now and relax before we hit the slope

Much love

Yugi

Yugi smiled happily, re reading his email for any spelling mistakes and pulled out the memory card of his camera that Ryou had chucked on his bed and uploaded all the photos and sent off the email. He shut down his laptop and hopped off the bed determined to explore every inch of his home for the month.

…..

Oh my god was the only thought that entered Yugi's head as he walked into the main living area of the lodge. Right in the centre was a designer leather lounge suit that recline all seats and a varnished mahogany coffee table that was big enough to hold 10 people around it. In front of it was another fireplace, double the size of the one in his room that had the theme of the fern carvings from the front door etched around the opening and a tv once again above it. There was a giant stack of playstation, xbox and WII games off to the side along with accessories like guitar hero. On the far wall was a giant window that looked out to a tennis court, swimming pool and spa. Behind the lounge suit was an alcove that lead into a room with a fully stocked bar area that held a red felt pool table and another identical lounge suit. Above each room was crystal chandeliers that was carefully detailed around four deer antlers. Getting over his shock he made his way through doors to the right which lead him to the kitchen and dining area which once again gobsmacked him. He heard Kya chuckle at him from the impressive dining table made of a wood again but had a glass panel in the middle of it.

"You sure you're okay cooking shorty? That kitchen looks damn intimidating. From the looks of it, it's completely designer with all the Italian gadgets in it" Yugi grimaced, Kya was right, this kitchen was made for a professional cook not an amateur like him. He made his way into it, running his hand over the black marble counter and sighed

"Call Kaiba Kya, there's no way I'm going to be able to work out this place" he joined her at the table and pulled out one of the books in the information pack

"Don't be silly Shorty, you'll be fine, Ryou and I will help you out even if we just end up making homemade burgers the entire time" Yugi laughed at the thought of the three of them attempting to cook together and nodded

"Alright Kya, homemade burgers it is!" he looked back at the book in his hand and frowned "Does that guy expect us to read all of this?"

"Nah, the main thing is the emergency section and security stuff but everything else is just the normal housekeeping bull shit. Shorty…I know you don't want to talk about it but you know if you ever want to get things off your chest my ears are open" Yugi looked at his hands and shook his head sadly, he did not want to think about Yami and his ex-friends, he was here to start a new life and move on from them all

"Kya, I'm okay. Yami…it's complicated, I know I've never given you the full story but it's because it doesn't matter anymore. Duel monsters, the millennium item's, Yami…it isn't my life anymore and I don't see a point in dwelling on it" he sighed, fighting back memories and the betrayal that was trying to fight its way past his hearts walls

"Millennium items?" Kya questioned. Yugi bit his lip and scolded himself in his head. Kya had no idea about the millennium puzzle and the adventures it threw him into. She had no clue where Yami had really come from and he didn't think she would ever believe him

"Oh, um there nothing Kya just old Egyptian stuff my Grampa would go on about" He jumped up quickly and put a fake smile on his face "How about we go find Ryou and we have a few games of pool before we fail miserably at making dinner?"

"Yugi, you can tell me anything and I won't judge you, no matter how crazy it sounds but I'll leave it for now" Kya gave him a massive hug but then put her normal demeanour back on "Come on Shorty, let's go so I can kick both your guys' asses!"

…

The weather was terrible in Domino city and Yami had to force himself out of bed to face the grey rain clouds that had descended on the city. It had been two days since his hikari had left and the distance was tearing at his heart. He never thought that Yugi would be so far away from him to the point their mental connection couldn't reach each other. I wonder if he's read the letter yet Yami thought as he put on the blue domino high uniform and his trademark buckle neck collar. Looking over himself in the mirror he sighed, his crimson eyes had dark circles under them due to worry and lack of sleep and his spikey tri coloured hair looked dull, his bangs and lighting shaped highlights seemed to be unusually unruly and no matter what he did they wouldn't sit right. I guess this is as good as it gets. He made his way down stairs and smiled at Grampa who had a bowl of cereal out on the table for him

"Yami are you okay my boy?" he heard concern in the older man's voice and nodded his head. Noticing he was on his laptop has my aibou emailed?

"I'm fine Grampa, just having trouble sleeping" Sugoroku frowned but then passed him the laptop. Yami raised an eyebrow at him a look of confusion on his face

"I've been worrying about Yugi to, he emailed this morning and our welcome to read it to put your mind at ease. Oh check out the photos! Seto has defiantly gone above and beyond for them" Yami smiled. Sugoroku Mutou had taken in Yami with open arms and treated him as if he was his own and Yami held him in the highest respects. Yami turned his attention to the email and gave a small chuckle as he pictured Yugi running to claim the biggest room in a childlike manor. Although the message was brief Yami was content that his lighter side was in a safe place and clicked on the images. His heart clenched as the first image was of a sleeping Yugi in a car, his head resting on Kya's lap. Yami saw red with jealousy at the thought of Yugi being so comfortable in someone else's presence. He clicked onto the next photo, his jealousy pushed down as he let out a loud laugh. It was a photo of Yugi standing in front of a giant cast iron sheep with Ryou, both boys looking awkward as they posed. Yugi had one hand pointing to the sheep a look of horror on his face as if it was going to eat him and Ryou looked like he was trying to kiss it. "Looks like there having fun doesn't it?" Yami nodded, sadness this time washing over him when was the last time we had fun like that?

"I should get going to school grampa, say hi to Yugi for me in your reply" he stood up and placed his untouched bowl in the sink, the older man frowned at him

"I don't know what's happened between you two Yami but I hope you two fix it. It's making both of you miserable" Yami lowered his head is it that obvious?

"He doesn't want to fix it Grampa, he made that pretty clear. Yugi doesn't want anything to do with me" he was engulfed in a hug, Sugoroku sensing the sadness in his words

"My grandson is stubborn but I know he cares deeply for you. Yes he is happy with this new path he has created for himself but I can guarantee you my boy that he will want you to be a part of it. Just give him time" Hope welled up in Yami, if anyone knew Yugi the best it was his grampa

"I hope so gramps because without him in my life everything just seems grey" Yami gave Sugoroku a quick squeeze and left the shop, making his way towards another day of school.