Author's note: OKAY, I UPDATED FASTER. This is because I'm driving everyone nuts again and everyone is confused and asdifuhadskfjasd
But not to worry, because this chapter will confuse you even more because a lot happens. Sorrynotsorry.
Thanks so much for all the reviews, y'all rock, but you already knew that! x33
Small note: Since I wrote this story back in 2010, the dates might be a little off (referring to the fact that the last page of Atemu's journal said 1960) and I don't wanna change it because I will probably confuse myself, which is not so awesome.
So yeah, in short, this story took place back in 2010. Jeez, I feel old. xD
Days went by. Even weeks and Yami was still unapproachable. His mother had tried to talk to him several times but every time she got near him, he would go upstairs, lock himself up in his room and stay there for hours. He didn't bother to charge his phone because Jounouchi and Anzu would call him non-stop and he didn't want to talk to them.
Not even to Yugi who had tried to talk to him as well every time he went to the bathroom at school. It had become a normal routine for him to avoid all the mirrors, or anything that was made of glass to make sure Yugi wouldn't find a way to approach him.
The copies had been thrown under his bed, never to be touched again. Yami couldn't throw them away, but he couldn't look at them, either. He knew damn well that hiding them under his bed wasn't going to do him any good and yet, he couldn't think of anything else to do.
Now that he knew Atemu, his grandfather, had killed his own boyfriend, he couldn't think straight.
A lot of questions had entered his mind over the past few weeks, so many that it made his head spin. Why he did it, where Yugi was buried because it was never found, and most importantly, what had happened to Atemu afterwards…?
According to the rumors he was dead, but ever since Yami had read those pages, he didn't know what to believe anymore. There had to be something else going on since his teachers, his mother and grandmother didn't want him to find out. Unless someone knew what really happened that night, it was nearly impossible to find the answers to these questions.
With a loud sigh, Yami rolled over to his stomach and buried his face in his pillow. His stomach growled whiningly, but he didn't have the energy to get up to get something to eat. His shirt had become slightly too big since he had lost some weight due to his bad eating habits and the huge amount of stress. Even his pants were slipping down his hips, but he honestly couldn't care less.
He lifted up his arms and placed his head on them, staring at his room from the corner of his eyes. There were a lot of clothes, cups, notes and pens all over his floor, making it look like a bomb had exploded.
His room basically represented his head; a complete and utter mess.
Someone knocked on the door.
"No."
"Yami, it's me."
It was Anzu's voice and it sounded worried and annoyed at the same time. Probably because she didn't even know what was going on. Yami had told Jounouchi not to say anything, so she was left in the dark. Even though it made him feel like an asshole, he didn't want to involve any more people because it would only make things more complicated.
"Don't care," he called out, pulling the pillow over his head like a toddler.
"Can I come in?"
"No."
"Oh, come on. Get your lazy ass out of bed, unlock the door and let me in. You can avoid me all you want, but I'm not going anywhere. If you don't unlock the door in the next five minutes, I will use this wrench that I got from your mom and do it myself."
With a loud, irritated groan, Yami pushed himself off the bed and walked over the door.
Click.
The door opened, revealing a rather pissed off Anzu. Unlike he had expected, she was holding an actual wrench in her hands; Elena must have been desperate at this point.
"Thank you," she said coolly, brushing past him and taking a seat on his desk. "You look awful."
"Well, hello to you, too," Yami said, closing the door with his shoulder and leaning against it with his hip.
Anzu placed the wrench on his desk and folded her legs over each other, giving him a look. "I mean it, you look terrible. You haven't been taking care of yourself lately."
"Sure, I have," he lied stubbornly.
Rolling her eyes, Anzu got up from his desk and put her hands on her hips in a very motherly way. "No, you haven't. You're pale, your eyes are bloodshot, you've lost at least five kilos, you don't pay attention in class, you don't talk to anyone, not even Jounouchi and you look like you're going to throw up any second. And no matter what I do, you two refuse to talk to me. What the hell is going on?"
She took a deep breath, straightened up and continued to glare at him.
"Nothing. We keep telling you—"
"Shut up," she snapped, and Yami's eyes widened. "I'm your best friend. Friends don't keep secrets from each other, especially secrets that make them act like this. Is it because I'm a girl and you're having guy problems? Is that it?"
"Anzu—"
"Can't you see that I'm worried sick? We all are. I've never seen you like this, not even when you and that dumb chick, what's-her-face, broke up."
"Her name was Kisara."
"Whatever, it's not important. The point is, is that you're making me feel like I'm invisible. You've been ignoring my phone calls, you won't talk to me at school and if I do something like this, you act like nothing's wrong and tell me that I should move on with my life."
Yami felt his heart drop down his navel as her voice broke and tears started streaming down her face. He couldn't even begin to imagine how fucked up everything was in her head; her two best friends acting like the world had stopped turning and not knowing what was going on.
More tears trickled down her flushed cheeks and her hands were shaking as she uneasily tried to pull herself together.
"Just…" she said quietly, wiping at her eyes with her shaky hands. "Tell me. I want to know why you're acting like this. I need to know why you look and act like a zombie because it freaks me out and I don't wanna lose you."
Yami looked down at the floor, slowly blinking and trying to come up with a solution. He had never kept secrets from her, not even the embarrassing ones. And as his best friend, she did have the right to know what was going on his life, because it was affecting her, too.
"All right," he spoke, making her look up at him with her watery eyes. "Promise me you won't tell anyone else."
"I promise."
And so he told her everything, not leaving out any tiny detail. He told her everything he knew about Yugi, about Atemu, their relationship, the strange behavior of the teachers, his mother and grandmother, the journal, the yearbook, and finally, what he had found out.
"… Yugi was murdered fifty years ago. By my very own grandfather. And I'm trying to find out what happened."
His own hands had started shaking, but for some odd reason, he felt so much better when he was done. One tear had rolled down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away before Anzu could notice.
Anzu was staring at him as if he had gone absolutely crazy. Her eyes were the size of two big blue balloons and she had clasped a hand over her mouth as it had fallen open.
"Oh my god," she whispered, lowering her hand. "… I-I don't know what to say."
"There's nothing to say," Yami said in a thick and awfully calm voice. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this sooner. I didn't want to make things even more complicated."
"N-no, I understand that," she replied, trying to brush her bangs out of her face but her hands were shaking so badly she failed miserably. "I'm sorry, too. If I'd known, I wouldn't have pushed you this far. I'll leave if you want me to. I just have to give you this one thing…"
Yami frowned as she reached for her bag and unzipped it. She rummaged through it until she fished out a small, folded up note.
"Miss Kujaku gave me this yesterday at school and since you left before she could give it to you, she asked me to do it," she mumbled, walking over to him and holding it out to him.
Without saying anything, Yami carefully took it and folded it open. In the corner, he saw a small note, written in his teacher's handwriting.
"Found this under my desk. It must have fallen out of the journal. – Mai Kujaku."
"Atemu,
You know that I love spending time with you more than anything. But it's hard to remain on my feet, as people seem to get more creative every day. I know we can make it through it if we work hard enough. That's why I'm writing this letter now.
I got an idea and thought you might be interested. Since seeing each other is nearly impossible and we can't go over to each other's house, I thought we could meet up at school every Friday at noon. As soon as the sun sets, we'll leave the house and meet in front.
That way, we'll be able to enjoy each other's company without having to worry about anyone else. Let me know what you think. My last class is in the west wing; find me there at three.
Yugi"
"That explains why he— But… Holy shit," Yami mumbled to himself as he kept reading the note over and over again. Atemu had taken advantage of the fact that Yugi had come up with a secret meeting point.
"I don't like the look on your face."
"It's um… a note from Yugi to Atemu. It's not that important, really." Yami's head was spinning again, but he forced his body to stay still and keep his voice from shaking. "Don't worry about it."
Anzu hugged herself and she gave him a small smile. "Okay. I guess I'll leave you alone now. If you want to talk about it, you know where to find me." She walked past him and was about to leave, but Yami quickly wrapped an arm around her to pull her in a quick hug. He didn't say anything, just squeezed her waist and he felt her hands wandering around before they clutched his shoulders.
"Thank you."
Anzu pulled back, forced a smile and left.
Sighing, Yami walked over to his desk, put the note on it and grabbed his phone so he could charge it. As soon as the phone lit up, it started vibrating and Jounouchi's name appeared on his screen.
He hesitated for a while, but he had faced Anzu, so talking to his best friend over the phone shouldn't be much harder.
"Hello?"
"Did you finally pick up or am I dreamin'?"
Smiling, Yami took a seat on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. "Must be a very good dream, then."
"Man, I've missed your voice. What made you pick up the phone?"
"Anzu came over and practically demanded to know what was going on," Yami told him. "She started crying in front of me and made me feel even worse about it. I didn't know it would affect her this much, so I told her. And honestly, I feel a lot better now."
"Glad to hear you feel better, bud. And I guess we couldn't hide it forever, especially from her. Anzu's not a snitch, so I don't think we'll have to worry about her," Jounouchi assured him, his voice sounding very calm, which Yami really needed right now. He suddenly realized how much he had missed him, too, and that he wanted to talk to him face-to-face.
"You wanna hang out?"
"… Wow, sudden change of subject, but sure! What do you wanna do?"
Yami looked around his messy room, as if he was going to find the answer there. His house wouldn't be a good idea since Elena was still downstairs, waiting for him to come down. And Jounouchi's parents would most definitely freak out if he came over looking like this.
"Um. Well, we could always go look for some tuxes."
Anything was better than sitting in this house; he had to do something to distract himself from all these disturbing thoughts.
Jounouchi was silent for a bit. "Now I'm sure I'm dreaming because you just willingly asked me to go shopping with you."
"For prom, you nerd. Remember?"
"Oh! Right. Okay, we'll meet at the mall at one. Sound good?"
"Sounds great. Find me at the big fountain in the main hall."
"Will do. Bye!"
He heard a soft click and let his phone drop on the bed next to him. Going to the mall was the last thing he had hoped to do on a Saturday, since he had never bought any clothes himself. Elena always did all the shopping for him, which was why his closet filled with the kinds of clothes she liked. The only thing he knew was that he was somewhere between a size small and medium. That should be enough to look for those suits.
After Yami got up, he fell back down again because a fierce light blinded him and made him groan loudly. The piercing light went right through his hands that were desperately trying to shield his eyes.
Trying to get up once again, he slowly lowered one of his hands. "W-what—?"
"Open your eyes, Yami."
That voice sounded almost exactly like his, except for the fact it was a lot more mature, just like his father's. And there was something off about it, too… just like Yugi's. It was raspy, breathy and lifeless; completely unnatural.
He didn't dare to open his eyes, feeling beyond nauseous. The intense light had disappeared and had been replaced by numbing cold feeling, biting his skin. Something frigid held his cheek, forcing his head up and the same voice said,
"Look at me."
Yami's eyes flew open and they nearly popped out of his head as two lilac eyes stared at him. His entire body went numb as he realized who was standing in front of him. They had the same small nose, mouth and jawline. The skin was a lot darker, yet pale, and as cold as ice. The hand on his cheek slid down his face and pulled back, allowing Yami to breathe again.
"Atemu," he mouthed, not trusting his voice. He looked down and saw the torn up clothing, which were casual, coated with several patches of blood. Yami started feeling anxious already, not knowing if that was his own blood, or Yugi's.
His grandfather took a few steps backwards, never taking his eyes off of his. He had put his hands behind his back, raising his head in a very demanding way, yet there was a certain amount of kindness in his eyes, so Yami didn't know what to think. It was as if he was looking at an older, tanner and dead version of himself.
So Atemu was indeed dead, just like everyone had told him. He looked around for any wounds, or cuts, anything to indicate he was dead, but he couldn't find it.
"Don't be scared, I'm not going to hurt you."
"That's a relief," was the sarcastic reply. Yami reached for his throbbing head, not quite being able to process all of this. He was so overwhelmed that his knees felt too weak to support his weight, so he held his desk with his other hand. "How— What are you doing here?"
"I never knew I had a grandson. I've been watching you for a while and decided that I wanted to talk to you."
His tone was cool, even slightly irritated and… disappointed. Then, Lea's voice replayed itself like an audiotape in his head,
"He doesn't even know he's a father and that's that things' fault! I fell in love with Atemu after our lovemaking. Atemu was very angry, because he thought I had used him."
She had never told him she was having their baby. Yami shook his head and did his best to remain on his feet, which was becoming harder with each passing second.
"She…she never told you she was pregnant?" he almost choked, looking back up Atemu, who folded his arms over his chest.
"No, she didn't. After she told me she had used me because of her father, I never wanted to see her again. I only did it because she was my friend and needed my help. Then, I found out she had taken advantage of our friendship and stopped talking to her. After she dropped out of school, I never saw her again," he said, his voice shaking lightly.
The situation was starting to make a little more sense to Yami now. But apparently Lea had dropped out of school soon after the incident, and he could only guess it was because she didn't want anyone to know about their baby.
"I knew that Yugi would never use me like that," Atemu continued, looking down, hurt shining in his eyes.
However, Yami narrowed his eyes to slits, feeling his blood boiling. "Then why did you kill him?"
Atemu's head shot up and tears of anger appeared in his eyes. "We couldn't be together no matter what we did. The other students constantly abused Yugi and my parents were disgusted by our relationship. I didn't have a choice." He looked down again and this time, Yami saw the blood sticking to his fingers. "Of course I didn't want to kill him. He was the one I loved. He told me he loved me and I… thought this was for the best."
The blood was all over his hands, but it was dry. Unlike Yugi's wound that would start bleeding every time he appeared, as if he was being stabbed over and over again. Several tears leaked out of his violet eyes as he looked back at Yami again.
"And it was all for nothing." It came out as a dreaded whisper that made a chill crawl down Yami's spine. His heart made a little jump and he hadn't even noticed it was practically hammering against his chest and that his breathing was out of control.
"What do you mean?"
More tears trickled down the other's cheeks and he shook his head, pressing his lips together. It looked like he was about to collapse any moment. "I can't tell you that."
"Why not?" Yami urged him, raising his voice. He needed answers because his head was about to explode.
"Because I'm not even sure whether it's true or not."
"That what isn't true?" Yami was slowly going insane at this point and he had taken a few steps closer. His voice sounded so desperate that it was almost embarrassing.
"Just… Talk to Yugi. He'll explain everything."
"I don't want to talk with him," Yami snapped, resisting the urge to start yelling at him. "I've had enough of seeing talking corpses everywhere, of all these questions and secrets. And Yugi is…" he couldn't finish his sentence. He didn't even know what to say.
Atemu walked over to him and held his cheek once again. He gently pressed their foreheads together, causing Yami almost to flinch from the cold touch.
"You can do it, Yami. I'll be there with you."
He vanished, leaving him in complete awe. Yami's knees finally caved in and he collapsed onto his bed.
A few hours later, Yami had snuck out of the house when Elena was preparing some lunch in the kitchen. He would send her a text as soon as he reached the mall, which was the safest option. And he would drag Jounouchi home as well to make sure she would not talk to him afterwards.
Perfect plan.
On his way to the mall, he couldn't get Atemu or what he had said out of his head. But he forced himself to think of Jounouchi, the tuxedos and… prom. Even though it was the stupidest thing Anzu had ever come up with, in his opinion. It was a little past one, which meant that Jounouchi was probably already waiting for him.
When he got to the main hall of the gigantic mall, he saw Jounouchi sitting on the edge of the fountain, playing with his phone.
"Jounouchi-kun!" Yami called out to him, quickening his pace. His friend looked up and his lips curled into the biggest grin he had ever seen. As soon as he was close enough, Jounouchi wrapped his free arm around him, squeezing him tightly.
"There you are! Man, I've missed you. I need to cherish this moment."
"It's not like we haven't been seeing each other," Yami said, his voice muffled by the other's shirt.
"I know, but we haven't talked in weeks. I don't ever wanna let go." Now his voice was starting to sound very theatrical and dramatic, making Yami snicker.
"Come on, Jounouchi-kun—"
"I've missed your musk!"
"And now you're creeping me out."
Laughing, Jounouchi finally let him go and held his hands up in defense. "Sorry, bud. Let's go." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Yami's arm and started dragging him towards one of the tuxedo shops.
It appeared to be empty, which Yami was very grateful for, except for a male employee who smiled brightly when they entered. He was wearing the ideal suit; it fit him perfectly, his tie was just the right size and it was the right shade of black to compliment his pale complexion. Yami was actually stunned because he had no idea a suit could do that.
"Good afternoon!" the man chirped. "Can I help you?"
"Nah, we're just lookin'. Thanks," Jounouchi said, continuing to drag Yami along, all the way to the back.
The entire shop was gigantic, and there were several areas secluded areas, giving them enough privacy. In each area were gigantic life-size mirrors, allowing the customers to see themselves from every angle, which made Yami slightly uncomfortable.
There were several racks with suits in practically every color, size and type. Some were obviously for special occasions, others were for everyday, and the leftovers were very colorful, so Yami assumed those were for dress up parties. On the other racks were matching shoes and ties, also in endless colors, and different patterns on them. There was even a section with hats, making him laugh.
He grabbed a random black hat, put it on his head and made a funny face by crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue. "What do you think?"
Jounouchi snickered, reached for a bright green tie, wrapped it around his neck and said, "What can I say? You look dashing."
Yami took off his hat and bowed dramatically, making sure to keep the hat high up in the air. "And so do you."
After they made eye contact, they burst out laughing and put the clothing items back before they were caught. Yami felt better already; just simply acting silly around his best friend and Jounouchi playing along as well made him feel careless again, which he needed.
They walked around for a bit, holding up different suits and discussing what would fit best for prom. Yami remembered Anzu had mentioned about elegant and black, so they decided to focus on that. Jounouchi was somewhat disappointed he couldn't pick a crazy colored one to make fun of the whole prom itself and even though Yami wanted nothing more than to do the same, he said they would disappoint Anzu.
"Uh, how about this one?"
Yami looked up and saw Jounouchi holding up a quite neat black jacket with a white shirt under it.
"Nice. For you or me?"
"You. It's too small for me."
Which was a casual reminder that there was a height difference between them and that Yami probably needed a size smaller than him. Yami gave him a look for that comment, which made Jounouchi laugh.
"Sorry, 'twas too easy. Behind you are some matching pants. Grab those and try it on!"
Yami reached for a pair of black pants and walked over to one of the changing rooms, which was even farther in the back. There were two right next to each other, hidden behind dark blue curtains. He went into the room and started changing. There was still no one else in the shop, making him think that it was either not that popular, or that their clothing was crap. But when he put on the shirt and pants, it felt comfy and not at all cheap.
After he had buttoned up the white shirt, he put the black vest over it and finished it off with the jacket. He was still missing a tie, or ribbon, and some shoes, so he awkwardly looked down at his white socks. Blinking, Yami turned his body and stared at his reflection. He had never looked this formal in his entire life and it felt slightly weird, but also…
"Fancy," he mumbled dryly with a small smile.
With a rough tug, he pushed the curtains aside and walked out, holding out his arms. Jounouchi was sitting one of the benches with his legs crossed, staring at him.
"… If only it was that easy for me to find one. Jeez, practically everything looks good on you." He got up and led Yami to one of the huge mirrors, patting his shoulder. "A black tie, some shiny shoes and you're good to go."
"You think so?" Yami said, straightening the jacket and tugging at the edges. "It just feels weird."
"Turn around for a sec?" He turned to Jounouchi, studied the suit for a moment before fingering the fabric of his shirt a bit. He pulled out the shirt and checked the label. "Yeah, looks like the right size. But it looks like you've lost some weight."
Shit. "No," Yami drawled, feeling very hot all of a sudden.
Jounouchi raised an accusing eyebrow. He was still holding the white shirt between his thumb and index finger, looking up at him through his dark eyelashes. Yami took a step back, but by doing so, he revealed a small patch of skin, since the other was still holding the fabric.
"Hey, what's that?"
Completely distracted, Yami shook his head and said, "What's what?"
Jounouchi lifted up the shirt some more and ran a couple of fingers over his right hip, causing Yami to jump up with a small gasp.
An awkward silence followed. Yami felt hotter than ever and pretended he was fiddling with the buttons to avoid any eye contact.
"… Ticklish, are we?"
Yami could hear the smirk in his voice, but ignored the comment and pulled his shirt out of his grip so he could fix it again. Neither of them said anything for a couple of seconds before Jounouchi rolled his eyes and went to look for a tie. He straightened the shirt and vest so he could give himself another quick look over. Jounouchi came back with a dark tie and was about to poke him in the ribs, but Yami was fast enough to move out of the way.
"Don't even think about it," he muttered, feeling embarrassed once again.
With a loud snort, Jounouchi put the tie over his shoulder and folded his arms over his chest. "Fine, I won't. But why didn't you tell me you got a tattoo?"
"Tattoo?" Yami repeated incredulously. "I don't have a tattoo."
"Then what's that on your hip?"
Blinking, Yami pulled up his shirt to expose his abdomen. He turned to the mirror and his eyes widened in horror. Just above his hip was a drawing of a small purple flower. It looked like it was dying, since the petals were slightly crumbled up and dried out. It was about two inches but to Yami it looked like it was the size of the sun.
"What the hell?" he whispered, brushing over it with the tips of his fingers, not really sure what he expected. He could only feel the warm skin beneath his fingers, but it didn't make him feel any better.
"Maybe you got it when you were drunk?"
"I've never been drunk in my entire life."
"Liar," Jounouchi said with a smug grin, leaning against the mirror with his shoulder. "We both got drunk at my birthday party this year. You were so out of it that I had to carry you home."
For the umpteenth time that day, Yami felt his nose reddening. That was true; back in April when Jounouchi had turned sixteen, his parents had left them alone and someone from their class had dared them to drink his parents' liquor. Of course, neither of them thought it was a good idea and refused to do it, until everyone started encouraging them.
Jounouchi had started and Yami finally followed, not really thinking straight. Both of them ended up a bit tipsy, but then the same person (they couldn't remember who it was because they had been too drunk) suggested a drinking game to see who could consume the most. And obviously, Yami never refused to take a challenge and ended up drinking until he couldn't walk properly. The rest of the night was a blur, and he had people telling him that Jounouchi had to carry him home afterwards, but that they did think he was cool for being able to drink so much.
"We promised we would never bring that up again," Yami said, rubbing his forehead. "It was stupid."
"Tell me about it. You're a lot heavier than you look."
Yami punched him in the shoulder for that comment, causing Jounouchi to laugh. "Ass."
"In all seriousness, though, do you think you got that tattoo that night?"
"I dunno," Yami said, looking down at the flower again. "I can't really remember what happened. But that was months ago, don't you think I would've noticed I got some creepy-ass flower on my hip?"
"Well, I'm out of ideas. The only thing I can think of is that it's some kind joke and that it'll fade in a couple of days."
"I hope you're right."
They decided to drop the subject since Jounouchi walked over to him and started tying the tie around his neck.
"How come you're good at this stuff, anyway?"
"Oh, you know, mom's re-opened the flower boutique a couple of times so I've had to wear a new tux every time she did," Jounouchi explained, smoothening it out over his chest and giving it a few tugs here and there. "I've worn a couple of monkey suits and got some practice. It's honestly not that bad. It's a total babe-magnet."
"Girls like it when you dress up?" Yami asked, blinking and looking down at the suit as if it was going to answer his question.
"Oh, yeah," Jounouchi finished up and patted his chest. "They love it. Speaking of chicks, do you have a date yet?"
"Haven't asked anyone out yet. It wasn't exactly one of my main priorities," was the dry reply.
Jounouchi chuckled nervously and rubbed his neck, mumbling something about asking a stupid question. "Right, forgot about that for a second. If it makes you feel any better, I don't have one yet, either."
"You could always ask Miss Kujaku."
"Ask Mai?" Jounouchi's jaw dropped and gave him a look afterwards. "You know I'd probably get expelled for that. Not funny, Yami."
"Yeah, you're right. It's hilarious."
He burst out laughing as Jounouchi's left eye twitched and laughed even louder when he was shoved back into his changing room.
Yami ended up paying for the suits (after ignoring Jounouchi's constant complaints) and suggested going to his place to simply hang out. Jounouchi wanted to get some food first, and they ended up carrying more than five bags to Yami's house. Two bags for their suits and the other three were filled with fries, hamburgers, milkshakes, smoothies, doughnuts and all kinds of other things that made Yami cringe. He was just happy he was spending with his friend again and that he was in a much better mood already.
"Wow, I'm exhausted. Next time, you carry the suits. They're a lot heavier than I thought!" Yami had practically kicked the front door open and threw all the bags onto the floor. He looked around cautiously, ready to run in case his mother showed up.
"No way, the food's heavier," Jounouchi argued stubbornly, dropping his bags as well. "Let's watch some TV and eat. There's this awesome new anime that airs every Saturday—"
"Yami, is that you?"
Said person's eyes widened and he was about to open the front door again, but felt a hand on his shoulder. Slowly turning around, he saw Elena's violet eyes glaring daggers at him. She must have been waiting for him in the kitchen and had strategically waited for him to drop his guard.
"Where have you been?"
Seemed like his plan had failed. "Shopping?" he answered lamely.
"Oh, so you're acting like an human being again?" Elena shot back, her grip on his shoulder tightening. That comment cut right through him and he psychically winced, knowing he had earned that because he casually forgot to send her that text.
"Look, mom—"
"You hate shopping."
"'Twas my idea," Jounouchi cut in, walking over to them and putting on the best, fake grin Yami had ever seen. "I know Yami's been acting like a douche lately, that's why I decided to drag him to the mall. Of course he's not a huge fan of shopping, but I thought it would be a good distraction. We got tuxes for the upcoming prom Anzu organized and I gotta say, your son looks damn good in a suit."
Both Yami and his mother stared at him like had just given birth to an alien.
"… Aha," Elena drawled, her grip loosening and Yami casually took a step a backwards when he found out he could move. "I guess you did good then. Just let me know next time, okay? I worry every time you pull a stunt like this."
Which was a complete lie. Since Elena was gone most of the time along with his father, he stopped believing they actually worried about him. There had been weeks where he had practically been living on his own; preparing his own food, cleaning the entire house, answering his parents' phone calls and taking care of himself like an adult. He got the feeling this was more Elena's way of showing that she was still this overprotective mother who wanted to be in control.
"Sure," he said in a forced calm voice. His hands were shaking and he pretended to stretch to hide it. He blinked when he saw his mother staring at his torso with a weird look on her face. Feeling his heartbeat fastening, he looked down and saw that part of the flower was exposed.
"Er, Jounouchi-kun, about that anime…?"
"Ah, yes. Come on," Jounouchi quickly pulled him towards the living room where he started babbling about some new anime that came out a few weeks ago. Just like he had hoped, Elena went upstairs without looking back and he let out a small sigh.
When he heard a door close, he turned to Jounouchi and threw his hands up in the air. "Told you she was acting weird."
"Yeah, she didn't even say anything about that fucked up tattoo of yours."
"She's probably gonna start yelling at me as soon as you leave," Yami said, biting his nails nervously and tapping his foot against the floor. "She's been bottling up her feelings for a couple of weeks and now that she's seen the tattoo… I think I'm screwed."
"Hey, she didn't look angry," Jounouchi pointed out, urging him to sit on the couch, which he did. Jounouchi went back to retrieve the bags and pulled out a rather greasy looking doughnut. "Now, eat. You're gettin' way too thin."
"There's no way I'm eating tha— Hmpf!" Jounouchi had already shoved the entire thing in his mouth. He bit into it and the overwhelming taste of cinnamon exploded in his mouth.
"Good. Why do you think I bought so much? And after watching some TV, I'm taking you to the gym, 'cause I'm pretty sure you haven't been working out, either. It's my job to take care of you and make sure you look hot enough for prom."
As Yami was forced to chew and while he did, a great idea popped into his head. He grasped Jounouchi's arm and swallowed so he could speak.
"You said your mom owns a flower boutique."
"Uh, yeah?"
"So, she knows everything about flowers, right?"
It took a few seconds before Jounouchi's lips curled into a smirk.
Author's note: I changed Atemu's and Anzu's personalities slightly 'cause otherwise the plot doesn't make sense.
Please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes. I shall fix those tomorrow, but I really, really, reeealllly wanted to update.
I'll try to update even faster next time!
Please don't forget to leave a review. x3
