Mornings in the Sennen household were always an affair. Whether the problem was that someone refused to get out of bed (Jaden, usually), or breakfast was burnt, (the oven had been acting up as of late), the only word to describe it was simply 'chaos'. And this day would be no exception.
"BIG BROTHERRRRR!" was all the warning Jaden got before he was attacked by a flying seven-year-old. Yuma then began jumping on the bed in a vain attempt to rouse the older boy.
Yusei, rudely awoken by the noise, decided he might as well get breakfast started. Ten minutes later, he, Yami, and Yugi were sitting around the table listening to the continued commotion upstairs.
"Oh, by the way, Yusei," Yami said, getting his attention, "you're going over to Jack's house today, right?"
"Yeah. He needs a hand with some mundane project that he refuses to admit he's capable of doing himself. Again." In the two weeks since the car was fixed, Jack had taken every opportunity to 'subtly' check in on Yusei and make sure he was all right.
"I can drive you over now, if you'd like. Seto wanted to see me anyway."
Yyyyy
"I'd like to talk to you about Bruno." Seto barely even glanced up as his cousin walked into his home office.
"You don't mince words, do you?"
"No."
Yami shook his head. "So, what's the problem?"
Here, Seto was quiet for a moment, contemplating how to best phrase the question. "How much do you know about sleepwalking?"
"I know that he's had problems with it in the past, but . . ."
"No, I mean sleepwalking, itself."
"Not much. Why?"
"Is it possible to get someone to stop?"
"Not to my knowledge. Why?" Yami was well aware that the mute teen Kaiba had adopted eight months prior had had problems with sleepwalking on and off.
"He's started up again, but this time, he doesn't just walk around. He'll grab things, move things, just last week, in fact, he took all the blankets off Joey's bed and curled up in the hallway."
"Hmm. I wish I knew what to tell you-,"
"Sorry, don't mind me." Crow walked quickly into the room, over to Seto's desk, and opened one of the drawers.
"What are you doing?" the businessman questioned.
"Nothing. Ah, here it is!" Crow shut the drawer and hurried back out of the room, camera in hand.
Seto sighed. "We'd better go see what's up."
Yami followed his cousin, suppressing a grin when he heard him muttering about 'freeloading thieves'. As they got closer to the living room, though, they were able to make out raised voices.
"Crow! Put that thing down and help me!"
"Jack, stop yelling-Ow! He's choking me! Get him off-," Yusei's voice was cut off by sounds of sputtering and gasping.
"How the hell is he still asleep?"
Yami and Seto hurried in to see Crow snapping pictures (from a safe distance, of course), while Jack was trying to pull a sleeping Bruno off Yusei.
"Yami, help?" Yusei looked at him pleadingly. It took Jack, Seto, and Yami to remove him in the end. As Jack and his dad were putting Bruno back in bad, Yami made a mental note to research more into the boy's problem.
"So, what happened?" He asked, still trying to stifle his laughter.
"Bruno was sleepwalking again and started moving the tools that I was trying to use up to his room. I tried to wake him up, and he just latched onto me." Yusei chuckled sheepishly, and then looked around. "Wait a minute, where did Crow go?" Yami looked around, too, then stooped when he saw Yusei face-palm. "He took the camera, didn't he?"
"Most likely."
"Great."
Yyyyy
Crow pulled his motorcycle to a stop outside a small, ramshackle house in Satellite. He knew that Seto thought of him as just a freeloader, 'And,' he thought, 'I guess I am.' But the truth of the matter was, there wasn't always room at home. As soon as he'd been old enough, he'd bought a small place of his own a few blocks over from Martha's. When she had too many kids in her orphanage, she'd send some to him. On top of that, he also had four full-time roommates.
Was it crowded? Yes. Was it stressful? Absolutely. Did everybody get on everybody else's last nerve? Every single day. Would Crow trade it for anything? Not in a million years.
He paused. 'Okay, maybe sometimes.' He conceded. "I'm home!" He called. Rally, Tank, Nerve, and Blitz came out to greet him.
"What's up? Why are you back so soon?" Blitz questioned. In response, Crow grinned and tossed the camera to Rally.
"Lets just say that it seemed better to temporarily cut and run then stick around for much longer." He walked into the kitchen to start cooking lunch, the sounds of the others 'aww-ing' and giggling in the next room reaching his ears.
Yyyyy
"I don't suppose your magical fixing abilities extend to kitchen appliances?" Yugi asked Yusei, starring at dinner; a burnt lasagna.
"Sorry, no. I fixed a garbage disposal once, though."
Yugi laughed. "Unfortunately, I don't think that will help much right now."
"Yeah. Probably not."
Yugi sighed. "So, now what do we do? You want to risk this?" He gestured to dinner, "Or should I have Yami pick something up on his way home?"
"I think I'd rather have Yami pick something up."
"Okay. I'll call him while you throw that disaster away."
Yyyyy
Later that night, after Yami had brought home tacos for dinner and everyone had gone to bed, Yusei tossed and turned in his sleep.
"No, please . . . stop." His face was covered in sweat and his blanket had wrapped itself around his legs. In his dream, though, it was rope. He was back in his room in his parents' house. He could feel the rope biting into his skin; hear the tortured screams of those unlucky souls they were doing their experiments on. Smell the electrical burning of faulty wiring. No. This was no dream. It wasn't even a nightmare. This was worse. This was a memory of the last night he had spent with his parents before being moved into foster care.
He knew the wires had ignited even though he hadn't seen them. The fire was getting bigger. He could hear it on the other side of the door. The screams quieted, their owners either having gotten out or . . . he didn't want to think about the alternative.
Desperately, he yanked on his bonds again. He tugged and twisted and pulled, blood soaking the ropes. He had to get free. He had to. He just had to.
The voices from down below started up again, only this time, they weren't screaming. They were yelling. At him. Yusei froze and, despite the fire trying to eat through the door, felt his blood turn to ice.
"Free us!"
"Help!"
"Save us!"
But then, other yells.
"Why did you leave us?" Came a demonic voice, almost in his ear.
"You didn't even try!" Another voice, this time behind him.
"You left us!" This one came as a sharp, raspy yell, directly above him.
He jerked his head up, just in time to see a beam falling. It got closer and closer, taking up more and more of his vision, until-,
Yusei gasped and bolted up in bed, heart pounding. He let out terrified, short breaths, and, in order to convince himself it was truly not real, shakily felt all around. Wrists, free of ropes, no cuts or bruises. Walls, cool to the touch. Ankles, still bound by that accursed blanket.
As quickly as he could, which wasn't all that quick, thanks to his shaking hands, he undid the blanket and tossed it to the floor. He then pulled his knees to his chest and placed his face in his hands.
Why had he dreamed of that night? His breathing was gradually slowing, but the effects of that dream were still with him. He kept feeling his wrists, looking at the door, expecting to see a glow under it, smelling electrical burning-,
Yusei stilled. It wasn't in his mind. The stench hung in the air so thick he could taste it. He stood and opened the door. No glow, no smoke, no crackle. Downstairs, though, the smell was stronger.
'No. This can't be happening.' He couldn't pinpoint where the smell was coming from, but it was there. Before he'd even realized he was moving he was opening Yami's door.
"Yami." He whispered urgently.
"Mm." Yami groaned and rolled over.
"Yami." He tried again, a little louder.
Yami didn't respond. Yusei hesitated. He'd always been told to never go into someone else's room unless invited, as it was a big invasion of privacy. His uncertainty, however, lasted only a second. He swallowed, took a breath, and stepped forward.
"Yami." He placed a hand on the older man's shoulder and shook him lightly.
Yami jumped a bit, startled. "Hmn, Yusei?" He asked, voice thick with sleep. "What's wrong?"
"I think we may need to get out of the house." Yusei wavered slightly, suddenly wondering if it had been his imagination.
"What do you mean?" Yami sat up, instantly awake.
"I-I'm smelling burning electricity. I think there might be a fire."
His adoptive father stood up out of bed. "Lets go check it out, then." Yusei nodded and they left the room. As they walked past Yugi's open door, Yami took a quick glance inside. "Looks like Yuma ad another nightmare." He remarked upon spotting two small shapes curled up together.
Yusei smiled faintly at the sight, and then led the way down to the kitchen, where the smell was strongest.
"What is that?" Yusei turned to see Yami's nose was crinkled. "Is that . . ." he trailed off.
Yusei nodded absently. "You never forget it."
They began looking around, trying to find where the smell was coming from.
Crack
Both immediately spun to face the oven.
The sound came again, accompanied by a loud pop!
"Yusei, what-," realization hit them suddenly.
"Move!" Yusei yelled, pulling Yami into the staircase. They made just a second before they heard a whoosh of air, and the oven exploded.
Yyyyy
Wow. So sorry this took so long to update, but here it is! And, if I might add, this story has been completely finished on paper, and I am now working on the epilogue. YAY FOR ME AND MY AMAZING EDITOR! (And, for anyone who wants to guess, there is a reason for the exploding oven.) Don't forget to review! :3