Yusei was thinking of where Yugi could've gone as he walked. He was on his way to their room when he saw a cherry blossom tree in the far corner of a now abandoned courtyard. He walked over to it.

"Yugi?" Yusei called quietly, leaning on one side of the tree. Yugi was sitting in the middle of the tree on a rather sturdy couple of branches. The blossoms hid him from sight as he watched Yusei shift to stand with his back against the tree, resting one foot against it and the other on the ground to hold his balance.

"What's wrong? I... know you're here. But I'm not entirely sure where..." Yusei said quietly, knowing Yugi could hear him. Yugi held perfectly still and listened.

"I know you might not want to talk... but if you do, I'm here. I don't know what Bakura said... but I'm almost 100 percent sure that whatever he said, it's not true." he said, uncertainty lacing his voice here and there. He was mostly worried about Yugi, and it showed.

"Lately I feel like I've screwed up somehow. I don't know how, but I feel like you might want... something more out of our relationship and I'm just not getting the memo. I'm so confused sometimes... I want things to be perfect for both of us. I have a feeling that Bakura said something about something personal. I don't know if you're ready for that yet and I don't know how to ask you if you are..."

Yusei heard shuffling on the other side of the tree, and walked around it, hoping to find Yugi there. Instead, he found a squirrel. He began to wonder if he was just talking to himself.

"Well then... I feel like an idiot." he said to no one particular. Yugi giggled quietly.

"Why?" he asked from his place in the tree. Yusei looked around and saw no one. He was starting to wonder if he really was going crazy.

"Because...I just spilled everything... to a squirrel and a tree." Yusei said cautiously, still looking around.

"Or yourself?" Yugi asked, still hidden.

"Yeah..." Yusei said. The voice sounded like Yugi, but he couldn't be sure. He heard the voice giggle.

"Why are you laughing?" Yusei asked.

"Because, you're not talking to yourself. Or a squirrel or a tree for that matter."

"Then who am I talking to?" Yusei asked. He heard rustling behind him and suddenly Yugi appeared on a low branch of the tree.

"You're talking to me." Yugi said softly, smiling. He was laying on the tree branch, resting his head in his folded arms. Yusei walked over to him. The branch was low enough that he could look into Yugi's eyes.

"You know, I'm sure the squirrel was listening." Yugi said with a small smile. Yusei laughed.

"Oh yes. He was just getting ready to say how pathetic I looked and sounded trying to talk to him and a tree about my problems." Yusei said. This time, Yugi laughed.

"You didn't look or sound pathetic."

"You're just saying that..." Yusei said.

"Well of course I'm saying it. What, did you want me to write it down?" Yugi asked. They both laughed softly. Yusei rested a forearm on the branch Yugi was laying on and rested his head on his arm.

"Why did you leave?" Yusei asked. Yugi's eyes showed that he was very uncertain and worried about something.

"Well... you were right about Bakura saying something..." Yugi replied. His eyes focused on anything but Yusei's.

"Yugi," Yusei said to get the attention of the other. Yugi looked at him.

"What did he say?"

Yugi didn't answer, he merely blushed slightly and averted his eyes again. Yusei sighed and walked over to where the squirrel was before is scampered off. He knelt down and looked through a few stones lying there. Yugi drew his eyebrows together.

"Are you mad?" he whispered, half afraid to hear what he was dreading. Yusei picked up a purple tinted river rock and stood.

"At Bakura? Yes. At you? No. At myself? Well... kind of..." Yusei replied as he turned and walked back over to the tree.

"Why at yourself?" Yugi asked, sitting up and leaning against the tree trunk.

"Because I don't know how to ask or say some things that I want to." Yusei said. He folded his arms on Yugi's lap and rested his head on his arms. Yugi looked at him quizzically as he fingered Yusei's hair gently.

"I don't understand..."

"Well... let's start at what Bakura said to you." Yusei suggested. Yugi bit his lip.

"Don't be afraid to tell me something that's on your mind, Yugi. Please."

"He... he asked about my... virginity..." Yugi whispered. His face had turned red.

"Does that make you upset?" Yusei asked.

"No! Well... it makes me a little uncomfortable... but not upset." Yugi said quickly. Yusei nodded.

"Then why were you?"

"He said... that eventually you would become impatient with me and..."

"And leave?"

"Yeah pretty much." Yugi said, looking down at the river rock Yusei had in his hand. He looked like he wanted to cry and he sure felt like it.

"Yugi..." Yusei said sympathetically. He wrapped his arms as best as he could around Yugi and lifted him off of the branch. Yugi wrapped his arms around Yusei's neck and his legs around his waist and cried softly into Yusei's shoulder while Yusei rubbed Yugi's back comfortingly with one arm, the other holding Yugi.

"It's ok. It's ok." Yusei whispered. Yugi sniffed a few times before looking at Yusei.

"You're not going to leave, are you?" Yugi asked. Yusei thumbed away Yugi's tears and kissed his forehead.

"Not if you don't want me to." he replied. Yugi smiled, hiccuping softly. Yusei chuckled.

"Here." Yusei said, holding out the hand that had the river rock in it. Yugi took it, examining it closely.

"...A river rock." Yugi said, hinting that he didn't understand.

"Do whatever you want with it. Carve it, draw on it, paint it every color of the rainbow, even use it as a rock for a garden. Just don't give it away. Think of it as the largest piece of my heart. It belongs to you now. When you're ready to let it go is when I'll leave." Yusei said, looking into Yugi's eyes. Yugi looked back and nodded.

"Are you sure you want to give this to me?"

"I'm positive." Yusei said with certainty. Yugi smiled happily and pressed his forehead to Yusei's.

"Okay then. I promise I'll take good care of it. Just as long as you take good care of mine." Yugi whispered.

"I promise." Yusei said, smiling too. He leaned his head up and kissed Yugi gently. Yugi smiled again. A happy ending to a happy first year.