Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 7- Confrontation
The book deal had gone through, and the publishing company was in the process of getting the first book in the series ready for release.
Atemu and Heba had already left for Egypt only after telling Yugi that he had better send them a copy of the book.
Yugi was currently in the Game Shop, working. He was trying to get back into the daily routine of things.
The bell to the game shop rang, and Yugi looked up to see a woman with a baby walk into the shop.
Yugi had to bit back some tears at seeing the baby, thinking once again of the child he had lost. He put on a smile and said, "Can I help you?"
"I'm looking for something for my son for his birthday. He's eight. He loves to come to this shop with his father, so I thought I might find something for him." the woman explained.
"Is there anything in particular that he likes to get from here?" Yugi asked.
"Yes. He loves to play Duel Monsters, and he always gets himself dome cards when he comes here. I just don't know what he does have and what he doesn't have." the woman explained.
Yugi smiled. "We just got in some new packs. They're completely new." Yugi said.
"Really?" the woman asked.
Yugi nodded and showed her where they were. She could get either a few packets or a box set.
The woman chose to buy the box set for her son before she left.
Yugi sighed after she left. 'I didn't think that it would be so hard now. I guess losing that baby hurts a lot more than I thought it would.' Yugi thought.
The bell to the shop rang again.
Yugi looked up and saw Joey and Tristan. "Hey, guys. What are you doing here?" Yugi asked.
"Not much. We were both off today, and we thought that we would come and see if you need any help." Joey answered.
"Yami sent you, didn't he?" Yugi asked.
"Yeah." Joey admitted.
Yugi shook his head. "That man worries way too much." Yugi said.
"Take it easy on him, Yugi. Yami knows that you've been through a lot today, and he just wants to make sure that you're okay." Tristan said.
"I know he does. That's why he's not letting me move out of the mansion." Yugi said.
"Well, that's partly because Bakura might still try to use you to hurt Yami again." Tristan said.
"He can't keep me under constant guard, or keep me locked up forever." Yugi said.
"Yug, if anyone can find a way to keep you under lock and key, its Yams. Don't put anything past him." Joey said.
"I know that, Joey. I hope to avoid something like that at all costs." Yugi said.
"Well, since we're here, is there anything that we can do to help you out?" Tristan asked.
"Well, I need to do inventory, so if you two would just watch the front for me, I'll do that." Yugi said.
"Sure thing, Yug." Joey said.
Yugi then went to the back of the store while Tristan and Joey stayed up front to keep an eye on the store.
Yami had gone to the KaibaCorp office building and headed upstairs to Seto's office.
"Sorry, sir, but Mr. Kaiba is in a meeting at the moment." the secretary said.
Yami nodded his understanding before he sat down to wait for Seto to end the meeting.
'I hope that Yugi's doing okay. I don't like the idea of him being alone at the shop with Bakura out there. He's done enough to hurt Yugi as it is.' Yami thought. His thought then turned to the coming vacation. 'I can't wait to go on that vacation. I know that it'll be fun, bit it'll be even better now that Yugi is going to be going with us. I'm glad that Seto did arrange for Yugi to come with us. I know that Yugi needs to get away after all that he has been through.' Yami thought.
Yami was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard his boyfriend's office door open. He looked up to see Seto and another man in a business suit at the door.
"Thank you for your time today, Mr. Hashimura. I'm sure that this is going to be a very profitable deal." Seto said.
"I agree with you, Mr. Kaiba. Good day." the man said. He shook hands with Seto before walked off.
Yami stood up and went over to Seto. "Good meeting?" Yami asked.
"You could say that." Seto said as the two walked into the office, closing the door behind them.
Seto turned and kissed Yami soundly. "What brings you here today?" Seto asked.
"I was bored." Yami replied.
"What about Yugi? You didn't leave him alone, did you?" Seto asked.
"No. He decided to go and take care of the shop today, so I'm bored now." Yami chuckled. "Sorry, but I won't be able to entertain you today. I have several more meetings today, plus a board meeting in an hour." Seto said.
Yami groaned. "I'm just out of luck today." Yami said.
"Well, go to the Game Shop and help Yugi out." Seto said.
"And smother him?" Yami asked.
Seto rolled his eyes. "You've already been doing that, so it's not really going to matter." Seto said.
Yami sighed. "It's about the only choice that I have now." Yami said.
"Good. Now, go on. I have work to do." Seto said.
"All right, Set. You going to be late tonight?" Yami asked.
"Probably. It's just one of those days where everything is happening today." Seto said.
"Okay, Set. I'll see you later." Yami said. He kissed Seto again before he left.
"So, you're going to Hawaii with them?" Tristan asked.
Yugi nodded. "They didn't exactly give me a choice. Seto was insistent, and the fact that he had Yami, Heba, and Atemu there to help him out pretty much said that that was an argument I would be losing." Yugi said.
"I wouldn't want to be caught anywhere with moneybags." Joey scoffed.
"Well, that's why you go everywhere with me." Tristan said, putting an arm around Joey and kissing him.
Yugi smiled at the two.
The shop was closed for lunch.
"Well, since I was going to be gone, I was hoping to ask a favor." Yugi said.
"What's that, Yug?" Joey asked.
"I was just wondering if you two could help run the shop while we're gone. I'd like for the shop to stay open, especially during the holiday season." Yugi said.
"No prob. We just won't be able to when we're working." Joey said.
"I know. I'm planning to ask Tea and Duke if they'll help out there, too. Ryou, Marik, and Malik are still here, and they've already said that they will help out. I just have to ask Tea and Duke." Yugi said.
"Well, between all of us, we'll be able to keep it going pretty much all day. We don't mind helping you out, Yugi." Tristan said.
"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate that." Yugi said.
"Kike we said, no problem." Tristan said.
"Yeah. We don't mind. Besides, you know that we like working here." Joey said.
"I owe you guys' big time." Yugi said.
"You don't owe us anything." Joey protested.
"Yeah. We're glad to help out." Tristan said.
Yugi nodded, glad that he had such great friends as the ones that he had.
Yami had decided to stop and get himself something to eat before he headed on over to the Game Shop.
After eating, Yami headed on toward the Game Shop.
"Yami!"
Yami turned and found Marik running up to him.
"What is it, Marik?" Yami asked.
"I was just wondering where you were headed." Marik said.
"I'm going to the Game Shop. Yugi's running it today, and there's nothing for me to do, so I thought that I would go and help him out." Yami answered.
"Yeah. I knew Atemu and Heba had gone back to Egypt for a while. Yugi asked me, Malik, and Ryou to help run the store while he's gone. I think he's going on a vacation with you guys." Marik said.
"Yeah. Seto's been planning for us to go to Hawaii for Christmas for a while. He decided to invite Yugi along since Yugi needed a vacation after everything that he's been through lately." Yami said.
"He does need to get away more than anyone." Marik agreed.
Yami nodded. "I'm glad that Yugi agreed to go. It'll be nice to be able to spend some time with him again." Yami said.
"Yeah. When you and Seto decide to leave the room." Marik said.
Yami glared at him. "That's not all that we do, Marik!" Yami snapped.
"Sure. Keep telling yourselves that." Marik said.
"What do you want?" Yami asked.
"Nothing. I just saw you walking down the street, and I thought that I would see what you were up to." Marik said. He smiled slyly and said, "Since you and Seto are going to be in Hawaii with Yugi, maybe you can use this chance to make him yours by telling him how you two feel about each other." Marik said.
Yami stopped and turned to look at him wide-eyed. "Who told you that?" Yami hissed.
Marik rolled his eyes. "No one told me that. I could tell that you and Seto were in love with him. It is the perfect opportunity to tell him, though." Marik said.
Yami glared at him. "You tell Yugi, and I swear that I will kill you." Yami said.
"Calm down. I don't plan on telling Yugi a thing. I do think that you should tell him, though. He deserves to be in a relationship with someone that will treat him right." Marik said.
"Well, if Yugi accepts us, you don't have to worry about that." Yami said.
"I know. You two would treat him a lot better, although I would kill you if ever did anything to hurt Yugi." Marik said.
"We wouldn't do that, Marik. We're not even sire how Yugi feels about us, anyway." Yami said told him as they walked down the street again.
"Well, here's an idea. Tell him and see what he says." Marik said.
"Look. Seto and I want to do this right, and we don't want to rush things. Yugi's been through a great deal recently, and we would rather that he have some time to recover from everything that Bakura's done to him." Yami said.
"Honestly, I don't think that there would be anything better for him that to know that there are two people out there that really do love him the way he needs and wants to be loved." Marik said.
Yami glanced over at Marik. "Why do you care so much, anyway, Marik?" Yami asked.
"Well, I guess mainly because of Ryou. You know that Yugi and Ryou were rather close, more like brothers than anything. I guess because I'm with Ryou I've gained a protective streak for Yugi. Probably why I hunted down Bakura when he started that lawsuit and pretty much punched his lights out." Marik said.
"You did that?" Yami asked.
Marik nodded. "I was mad, and I decided to take my anger out on the course of the problem." Marik said.
Yami smirked. "I would have liked to have seen that." Yami said.
"I'm surprised that you haven't hunted him down and rung his neck yet. I thought that you would have killed him after what he did to your Hikari." Marik said.
"Trust me, I wanted to, but I was more concerned about Yugi at the time, so I decided to save that for later. If I were to see him again, though, I'd probably let him have it." Yami said.
The two turned around the corner and ran right into someone. All three were knocked to the ground.
"What where you're going!" an angry, gruff voice growled.
Yami and Marik looked up to find themselves looking right at Bakura.
"Bakura." Yami growled.
"Ph. It's you." Bakura said as he got onto his feet.
Yami also got onto his feet.
Marik got up and took a step back, deciding that he would stand back and watch the show since he knew that it would be a good one.
"Watch where you're going next time, Pharaoh." Bakura said. He started to walk past Yami.
Yami grabbed Bakura before he slammed Bakura back against the wall.
"Let go!" Bakura growled.
Yami tightened his grip on Bakura's arms. "Not on your life. I have some things to say to you!" Yami growled.
"Like what?" Bakura spat.
"Like you're lucky that I don't have my Shadow magic anymore because if I did, I would have sent there by now after everything you put my Hikari through. He didn't deserve that, and he certainly didn't deserve the likes of a lowlife like you." Yami spat.
"Please. I've heard it all before." Bakura said.
Yami's glare intensified. "Really. Well, you haven't seen anything yet. You're not even worth my time, thief. You're pathetic since you have to try and hurt me by going through my Hikari. You don't even have the courage to face me." Yami said.
"I'm not scared of anything!" Bakura spat.
"Yea. Then why is that you had to hurt me by hurting my Hikari. You are a coward who doesn't want to face his own enemy." Yami said.
Bakura forced Yami off of him. "Please. I didn't have to do it that way, but there was no better way to hurt you than to do that to him." Bakura said.
"Why's that?" Yami demanded.
"Ha! Your Hikari is the only one doesn't know that you and the priest are in love with him. I knew that if I dated your Hikari, it would kill you, and I was right. Every time you would see us together, I could just see how it was killing you and making you angry. It was worth it." Bakura said.
Yami clenched his fists tightly. "Then why did you do everything that you did to Yugi?" Yami demanded.
"You really think that I could remain faithful to that shrimp. Please. I was sleeping with other people while I was dating him the entire time. He couldn't satisfy anyone." Bakura said.
That pissed Yami off, and he punched Bakura so hard in the face that Bakura was thrown back into the wall.
"You bastard! Don't you ever talk about Yugi like that again!" Yami hissed.
Bakura glared at him. "It's the truth. He's not exactly a good lay. That's why I was glad when he caught me. I was glad because it meant that I could get him off of my back. Of course, I didn't expect him to get himself knock up, but that doesn't matter anymore. I'm glad he lost that bastard. It saves me a lot of trouble." Bakura said.
Yami then grabbed Bakura by the front of his shirt and pulled him so that they were almost nose-to-nose. "You pathetic, insensitive bastard! You may not have wanted that baby, but like it or not, you were the one that got Yugi pregnant. That was your child, and you don't even care if that baby never had a chance at life. You can't have a heart to feel like that." Yami growled.
"In case you haven't noticed, I don't care. I never wanted that bastard baby in the first place. It's a good thing as far as I am concerned." Bakura spat.
Yami's glare turned into a look of pure hatred. He then wrapped his hand tightly around Bakura's throat, starting to choke Bakura.
Bakura grabbed at Yami's wrist, trying to stop.
Marik moved to stop Yami.
"You listen and you listen good Bakura. If I ever find you anywhere close to Yugi, I won't hesitate to kill you, and if I don't kill you, I can guarantee you that Seto will find a way to get rid of you. Don't you ever come near Yugi again. This is the only warning that you get, thief. Next time, you die.' Yami said before he slammed Bakura back against the wall and let Bakura go.
Bakura slid down the wall, gasping for breath.
Yami the stalked off.
Marik looked at Bakura and said, "I think you had better heed that warning, Bakura. Next time, he'll kill you, and if he doesn't, I will." Marik then turned and walked off as well.
Yami pissed. He hated Bakura so much, and he would have loved to have kicked Bakura's ass, but he didn't because he didn't want to cause a scene in public. It didn't change the fact that he wanted to kill Bakura more than anything.
"That was very amusing to me, Yami." Marik said.
"Not a word to Yugi about what happened." Yami said.
"No problem. I'm not sure that Bakura's going to want to do anything. I think that he saw how pissed off you were." Marik said.
Yami shook his head. "I hate when people talk badly about Yugi, but I hate it even more when Bakura talked about Yugi like that." Yami said.
"I don't blame you. I would have been stark raving mad, too." Marik said.
Yami shook his head. "It pisses me off at how callously Bakura treated Yugi. He deserves so much better." Yami said.
Marik placed a hand on Yami's shoulder, and Yami stopped walking, turning to face Marik.
"If you really think that, then I think that you and Seto need to tell Yugi the truth about how you two feel about him." Marik said.
"What makes you think that Seto and I deserve Yugi?" Yami asked.
"Because you both love him, and you would treat him a lot better. Not to the mention the fact that you two don't want to see him with anyone else, and if you miss this chance, you might not be given another one. You have the golden opportunity to make him see how much you love him as long as you don't blow it." Marik said.
Yami thought about what he said. "You know, you may be right. I'll have to talk to Seto about it." Yami said.
"Good. I think that you two need to. Yugi deserves to have people who will love him, and I know that you two will do just that." Marik said.
Yami nodded, thinking that he and Seto would have to think about going ahead and telling Yugi how they felt about him.
Joey and Tristan had left since they were suppose to meet Tristan's parents, so Yugi was alone at the shop now.
The bell over the door rang again.
Yugi looked up to find that Yami was in the store. "Hi, Yami. What are you doing here?" Yugi asked.
"Well, I was bored, and Seto's too busy at the office, so I thought that I would come here and see if I could help you out." Yami said.
Yugi smiled. "Sure thing, but it's been a bit of a slow day. Joey and Tristan were here earlier, so they followed orders." Yugi said.
Yami had the decency to blush. "They told you?" Yami asked.
"No. I had a feeling, and they confirmed it. You worry way too much." Yugi said.
"I worry. So sue me." Yami said.
Yugi laughed. "I know that you worry, but you can't keep this up." Yugi said.
"I will as long as I can." Yami answered as he walked over to the counter.
"I wish that you wouldn't go to these lengths to try and protect me, though. You can't protect me from everything." Yugi said.
"Maybe not, but I can at least try." Yami said. 'And I wont' stop trying. With any luck, I might be able to at least protect your heart from ever being broken again. It won't be broken again if Seto and I have anything to say about it.' Yami thought.
Seto had gotten home kind of late that night, and he found that Yami was sitting on their bed. "Sorry. I was a little later than I thought I'd be." Seto said.
"I know, and I'm not mad. I know that you have a lot that you do for the company." Yami said
Seto took off his jacket, tie, and shoes before he sat on the bed with Yami. "Anything important happen today?" Seto asked.
"Well, when I headed over to the Game Shop, I ran into Marik and then Bakura." Yami said.
"What did he want?" Seto growled, referring to Bakura.
"We ran into each other. Let's just say I finally gave him a piece of my mind." Yami said.
"Good." Seto said.
"I also talked to Marik when I was heading to the Game Shop after that." Yami said.
"What did he have to say? " Seto asked.
"Seto, Marik thinks that we should use the chance we have in Hawaii to tell Yugi how we feel about him, and I agree with him." Yami said.
Seto turned to look at Yami, shocked. "You think that we should tell him now?" Seto asked.
Yami nodded. "Seto, Marik pointed out that Yugi deserves to be with someone that will love him and take care of him. He's right. We need to tell him before someone else comes onto Yugi, and he gets hurt again." Yami said.
"Hmm. That's not much a bad idea." Seto said.
"You think that we should tell him during the trip?" Yami asked.
"Well, Hawaii would be the best place to do it, and I think that it's a great idea. We should tell him. We've been wanting to tell him, and I think that we should." Seto said.
Yami smiled. "Good. Then we're agreed that we'll tell Yugi how we really feel about him during the time we're there." Yami said.
"Yes, we are. Once we do, Mokuba can stop blackmailing me." Seto said.
A few weeks later, Yugi's book had come out in stores.
Yugi wasn't real sure how it was doing until Seto came home one day.
"I have some good news, Yugi." Seto said.
"What's that?" Yugi asked.
"It's about that book of yours. Turns out that it's doing real well as far as the sales are going." Seto said.
"It is?" Mokuba asked as Seto sat down in the living room with them.
Seto nodded. "Stores are having trouble keeping them on the shelves, actually." Seto said.
"Wow. I didn't think that it would sell that well." Yugi said.
Seto laughed. "Yugi, a lot of people are going to buy a book that the King of Games himself wrote. A lot of book reviewers have said that it is in interesting book, and that the writer must have, and I quote, "a very active and vivid imagination to come up with such a unique idea", end quote." Seto said.
Yugi, Yami, and Mokuba all burst out laughing.
"Imagine what they would say if they found out that Yugi wrote that based on something that really happened." Mokuba said.
"They'd probably lock me up in a mental institution." Yugi said.
Yami chuckled. "And then probably use me as some sort of science experiment to see if what you said was real." Yami said.
"I say just let them think that Yugi has an active imagination." Seto said. He then handed Yugi something.
"What's this?" Yugi asked.
"Your paycheck, for lack of a better word. It's your part of the money that's made off of these books." Seto said.
Yugi opened the envelope and his eyes widened. "Five thousand dollars?!" Yugi exclaimed
"And that's in the first few weeks of the release. Believe me when I say that a lot more is coming in." Seto said.
"Wow. I didn't think that it would do this well." Yugi said.
"You had better start thinking about what you're doing for the next book, Yugi. I can tell you that the publisher is going to want to start a series." Seto said.
"At least I have a lot to work with." Yugi said.
"True." Yami agreed.
"Well, we leave for Hawaii in a few weeks, so you could wait until after we get back to start that." Seto said.
Yugi nodded. "I probably will." Yugi agreed.
"Oh, and I can tell you now that a publicist will be assigned to you. They're going to want you to do TV interviews, interviews with magazines, and book signings." Seto said.
"How do you know all that?" Yami asked.
"Because I made it my business to know when they agreed to publish Yugi's book. Any time a book does this well, even a children's book, that always happens." Seto said.
"I guess I have a lot that I am going t have to do." Yugi said.
"Don't worry. I know that you're not used to this kind of thing, so I'll help you with all of that." Seto said.
"Thanks. I'll need it." Yugi said.
Mokuba laughed. "You're pretty much telling everyone about your teenage years without them even knowing it." Mokuba said.
"Yeah. I know." Yugi said.
"In any case, I think that this series is going to make you even more famous than you already are." Seto said.
"Like I need anymore fame." Yugi muttered.
"You wanted to do this, so you have to live with the fame that comes along with it." Seto said.
"So I noticed." Yugi said.
"You're probably going to be a household name again, Yugi." Mokuba said.
"I suppose so." Yugi said.
Seto and Yami glanced at each other. They knew Yugi would be busy a lot now, so they hoped that they're plan to tell Yugi their feelings in Hawaii would go off without a hitch.
Hope you liked it. There might be another confrontation with Bakura later. Not sure yet.
Next: The start of the vacation. The vacation may span over several chapters. Not sure how many yet.
R&R.
