Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 9

The new server was delivered to KaibaCorp by the end of Alastair's visit, and as promised, he came down to the office building to oversee the installation and give the tech department an earful about maintenance and upkeep so something like this wouldn't happen again. The company's earthquake preparedness had saved it from major damage, but it wasn't impervious, meaning things like the servers and other technical equipment had to be cared for properly in order to avoid future catastrophes. Any aftershocks following the major quake one week ago had been relatively minor and some weren't even able to be felt, but Alastair wisely pointed out how vibration affected sensitive systems and not all of KaibaCorp's computerized nervous system was shielded in earthquake-resistant bunkers. When bugged about his expertise in such matters, he flippantly told the pack of nerds that he had been a hacker for a major worldwide organization whose headquarters were in Los Angeles, so he knew more than enough about both computers and earthquakes, and that finally shut them up.

Kaiba looked up and sighed at the expected intrusion. "Didn't your former employer teach you to knock?"

"You're not my boss," Alastair said smugly, grinning. "And as threats go, I think he had you beat. There were much worse consequences for interrupting Dartz."

"Just wait till I get this cast off," Kaiba grumbled under his breath.

"You'll be happy to know," Alastair announced, ignoring him, "that the server is up and running and integrated seamlessly into the network. All the functions I had to re-route for the week are back in place, and you shouldn't have any problems handling bandwidth. Consider your company back in the race."

"Good." Kaiba harrumphed at the computer screen in front of him. "I wish I could say the same for the rest of our departments."

"Eh, give it time," Alastair shrugged. "This is what you have an American office for…"

At that moment, his cell phone rang shrilly. The two men glanced at each other, and then Alastair fumbled in his coat pocket for the phone and flipped it open. "Yeah. Ah, yeah, I kind of figured. I was expecting your call. Hm?" He listened for a while, as Kaiba returned to his work, typing swiftly with just his right hand – he was getting good at it. Alastair's hand suddenly groped across his desk, demanding a pen. There was a notepad near at hand, and he scribbled something down on it while making a few affirmative noises into the phone. "Yeah, I got it," he said concludingly after that. "I'll be there shortly. I'm not too far from there at the moment. Yes, sir. I understand." He ended the call and gave a weighty sigh. "Well, that was it."

"Your courier package?" Kaiba asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah." Alastair turned slightly toward him. "Guess it's a good thing I said goodbye to Mokuba this morning. I'm off right away, as soon as I pick it up."

Kaiba returned his eyes to the computer screen. Suddenly, he felt like he wasn't ready, even though both of them had been expecting this. He finished typing something as Alastair pocketed his phone and turned away, taking one last look out the window at the Domino skyline. He couldn't make himself leave, or ask for a ride, or anything. His bag was still at the Kaiba estate, he would need to go back and pick it up regardless. Then, he heard the click of the laptop cover being closed, and glanced back to find Kaiba putting his work aside and rising from his chair, his eyes downcast. "Your things are at my place," he said flatly. "Do you need a driver to go pick them up?"

"That'd be nice of you, thanks," Alastair said quietly. "Maybe send someone while I go pick up the package. It might give us a few extra minutes…"

"No." Kaiba still wouldn't look at him, standing with his hand resting on the desk in front of him. "When you go, just go. Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

Alastair turned and drifted closer to him, his gray eyes filled with curiosity. "Seto?"

Kaiba lifted his head and looked directly at him. "I'm not going to ask you for any promises," he said bluntly. "Your life is your own to live, you owe nothing to me and are perfectly capable of making your own choices. I'm not about to demand anything from you."

"All right," Alastair acknowledged, a little confused. "I was only going to say…it's just goodbye until next time I'm in town. Right?"

Kaiba peered at him. "How long are you going to keep doing this? This isn't a job, it's a gamble. Not all international couriers are above-board."

"I'm aware of that," the red-haired young man shrugged. "It's just until I have the money to settle down somewhere. I'm not going to make a career out of it, don't worry." He laughed wryly. "What, are you worried about me?"

"I just hate to see you wasting your talents," Kaiba replied grouchily. "Having worked for Para-Deus would look good on a résumé. You could be using your considerable computer knowledge and talent working for a high-level company anywhere in the world, instead of slaving away as a courier." His blue eyes narrowed. "One of these days, you're going to get into trouble. Do you really think every package you're hired to carry is on the level?"

Alastair lowered his head slightly, but didn't back down. "I haven't been asked to do anything like that so far," he said quietly. "I'm not stupid. I won't willingly take a job like that, no matter how much money it would net."

"I'm not concerned about your ethics," Kaiba sniffed. "Just that you could be setting yourself up for something. You're not a bad computer technician, or pilot for that matter. If there's one thing I can't stand to see, it's someone throwing away perfectly good talent."

Sighing, Alastair turned away. "I don't plan to do this forever. I'd like to have a nice job in a nice city somewhere, and make a real life for myself. There's nothing for me left back home, and I refuse to go back to L. A."

"So start looking," Kaiba challenged. "Find yourself a real job that suits you. It doesn't matter where. If you don't like Europe all that much, move to Japan. There are plenty of companies looking for good computer help here."

Alastair looked at him again, raising an eyebrow. "Oh? You want me to move here?"

"I want you to do something with yourself besides get into trouble," Kaiba said sternly. "Where you live is your choice. I have nothing to offer you, I was only making a logical suggestion. I don't know what the job market is like in Europe, maybe something there suits you better. What do I know?"

"Not much," Alastair admitted, making Kaiba glare at him. He took a few steps away from the desk, toward the window instead. "I don't know. Prague isn't terrible. Berlin has some fun nightspots. I don't know if I'd want to make any of them a permanent home, though." He tilted his head in an aloof shrug. "The euro isn't doing all that well."

"Neither is the yen," Kaiba pointed out. He couldn't fold his arms like he usually did when making a point, but he crossed his arm over his chest and rubbed idly at his left shoulder. It wasn't hurting, but somehow he felt discomfort. "It was just a thought. You speak the language well enough, you could probably find a decent job here."

"And be close enough to see you anytime I wanted to?" Alastair glanced over his shoulder with a pointed look to match his question. "Or is that something I shouldn't be factoring into my decisions?"

Seto bowed his head and closed his eyes. "Never hinge your decisions on the feelings of others. You're only responsible for one man – yourself. I told you – I can't make you any promises."

"I don't want promises." Alastair returned his gaze to the window, but he wasn't really seeing anything beyond it. "I just want to know whether all that stuff we talked about the other night still matters. Whether it would be worth coming to Japan if you suddenly decided, in the months between our visits, that you could push me away after all."

"That's a chance you'll have to take." Kaiba stared hard at his back. "Don't do anything on my account. I'm not worth it. Do what makes you happy. Find your own life."

"What about you?" Alastair turned his head very slightly, one gray eye peering back over the collar of his coat. "Is Mokuba right? Do I make you happy?"

Kaiba averted his gaze. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters." Huffing a sigh, Alastair spun on his heel and stalked closer, getting right in his companion's face. "I know you're not the kind of man who would confess anything deep, but if you had any inkling of a care for me, you'd tell me before I disappeared out of your life again. If you think I should be doing something that makes me happy, it matters if you are part of what makes me happy."

Kaiba eyed him, not shrinking away from his bristling anger. "I never said not to move to Japan. If that's what you want, do it. Go right ahead. I'm not stopping you."

Alastair opened his mouth and then shut it in surprise, blinking. "What?"

"Just don't do it on account of me. Do it because it's what you want." He turned to face Alastair, still clutching his opposite shoulder in some semblance of a gruff, closed-off stance. "I have no doubt you'll end up here, no matter what you might say about Prague or Berlin. You're going to make your way here because of me, regardless of whether I give you any indication that I want you in my life. That's just the stubborn kind of man you are."

Alastair frowned at him, not sure whether this was some kind of bizarre reverse psychology or what. "How do you know? You don't know me nearly as well as you think you do, Kaiba. A few nights in your bed hasn't opened my life up to you."

A smirk lightened Kaiba's face. "I'll bet you're living in Japan within two months."

"Oh yeah?" Alastair held his gaze and then smirked back. "I'll take that bet. What's the stakes?"

Kaiba thought about it. "Dinner."

"Oh come on. You can do better than that."

"Take it or leave it." He smirked again. "Any visits in the meantime thanks to your job don't count. I mean living here, whether in Domino or Tokyo or Hokkaido for all I care."

"All right, fine," Alastair snorted. "It's a bet. If I'm not living in Japan inside of two months, you owe me dinner. And I'll make sure it's a super-extravagant one, too," he added with a snarky lilt.

"It's not like I haven't fed you enough over the last week." Kaiba sobered, then, and dropped his gaze. "You'd better get moving. That guy isn't going to wait all day for you to show up."

"Yeah." Alastair stared at the floor. "I just didn't want to leave with anything unfinished between us."

"Nothing is unfinished." Seto glanced at his companion. "I have nothing else to give you. Go on, go do your job. I'm sure you'll call me if you're coming to Japan again."

"I will." Alastair started to turn away, but thought better of it and stepped back around to face Kaiba. "No, there's one thing left."

"Hm?" Kaiba looked up and then recoiled in surprise as Alastair grabbed him and kissed him, hard. After the initial shock, though, he melted into it, and then they were sharing a long, delicious farewell kiss. Alastair clenched his hand into the short hair on the back of Kaiba's neck and held him in place, ravaging his mouth with all the subtle sensuality of every night they had spent together so far. It was enough to make Kaiba's knees go weak, if he weren't concentrating on returning the kiss with just as much fire. At last, they reluctantly parted, each licking his lips to savor the taste of his partner. Alastair darted in for one last kiss, suckling on Seto's lower lip, and then finally backed away. Without saying a word they just stared at each other, and then Alastair turned sharply, making his coat flare magnificently out. He drifted to the door and let himself out, not bothering to look back. After a moment to collect himself, Kaiba gingerly tasted his lips once again, and then picked up the phone to call down to summon a driver to take Alastair on his errands and then to the airport.

Mokuba knew as soon as he came home from school and found things dreadfully silent that Alastair was gone. He didn't even need to see his brother come home alone and seclude himself away to rest before dinner and more late-night work at his computer. It was strange – Alastair had only stayed with them for a week, and hadn't called all that much attention to himself, but his absence could be felt like the great silence, which dominated the house. Both Kaiba brothers had gotten used to him being there in their own way, and wondered how the other might cope without their guest to keep things interesting. Mokuba retreated to his room and played video games until dinner, even though it was late in the summer term and he should have been studying. He got to the table before his elder brother, and was already poking at his food in boredom when Kaiba came down and slunk silently to his chair. It couldn't have been more obvious that Alastair had left, then, seeing their table back down to only two place settings. Kaiba just sat and methodically ate while Mokuba fidgeted and finally broke the silence that had been annoying him all afternoon. "Why didn't you ask Alastair to stay?" he asked petulantly.

Kaiba savored his meal for a few bites before coming up with an answer. "Because," he said flatly. "It wasn't my place to."

"Of course it was your place to," Mokuba argued, "he's your boyfriend."

"Mokuba." Seto focused a stern look on his little brother. "Alastair is not my boyfriend. Just because we've seen each other a handful of times doesn't mean anything."

Much as he wanted to bring up the fact that they liked to lock themselves in the bedroom together, Mokuba just grumbled and sighed. "He really likes you, you know."

Kaiba focused his gaze on his plate. "We're not in high school anymore, Mokuba. 'Like' has nothing to do with it."

His younger brother looked up and glared at him, raising his voice for once. "Oh, just get over yourself, Seto! You've got a guy who really likes you and wants to be with you and you're pushing him away like you do to every other person who wants to get to know you! Stop being such a jerk and treat him like a normal human being, would you?"

The outburst surprised him, but Kaiba didn't show it, apart from a twitch of his eyebrows. He kept his gaze concentrated on his dinner, and only shrank further into himself in response. "Do you really want me to do that?" he muttered. "You know how I treat normal human beings."

"Then treat him like you ought to treat somebody who matters to you. Treat him like you treat me," Mokuba challenged. "I don't get why this is so hard for you to understand."

"Maybe I understand it better than you do. Look, Mokuba." Kaiba lifted his head, looking solemn and dark. "Alastair and I both have our own lives to live, and there's nothing that says they were meant to be lived 'together' in any sense. He's going his way; I'm going mine. Maybe our paths will cross, maybe not. I'm not going to ask him to stay because I don't want to be responsible for his life." He narrowed his eyes to a keen focus. "He can make his own decisions, he's an adult. So am I. He has to work out his own path for himself, not rely on me to do it for him. If the kind of life he wants to live includes being somewhere where he could try to make things work with me…then that's his choice. Not mine." He went back to his dinner, adding, "I'm sure he'll drop by to visit again. This isn't the last we've seen of him. Now, I don't want to hear another word about it."

"But…"

"Drop it, Mokuba." Kaiba sighed heavily. "Alastair and I have an agreement. That's all I'm going to say."

Mokuba wasn't convinced, but he knew this was an argument he couldn't win. The assurance that Alastair would blow in out of nowhere again sometime in the vague future wasn't much, but he would have to be content with it for now. It wasn't that he missed Alastair himself, just that he knew there was something new and altogether fascinating going on between him and Seto and Mokuba wanted to see it succeed. Though, Alastair was a cool guy. It might be nice to have him around on a regular basis. But it was clear Alastair had issues as deep and raw as Seto's, so instead of just waiting for his brother to heal to the point where he could let someone close, Mokuba would have to wait for both of them to reach the same level. He sighed to himself; it's going to take forever for either of them to fall in love.

There wasn't any particular reason to party, but Yugi and his friends got together one random night in July nonetheless to enjoy the company and perhaps celebrate the fact that all of them were doing just fine. They had put the earthquake and its aftermath behind them, cleaned up, fixed up, and were back to normal in their own ways. Tristan was still working in the office of the construction company while they handled his medical expenses, but apart from that, friendships and relationships had only grown stronger in the subsequent weeks. They gathered at Joey's flat – Yugi, Tristan, Duke, and Bakura – and were all rather surprised when halfway through the evening Mai broke out a bottle of champagne that had been properly chilled as if for an occasion. "I know you're still the young one in the group," she smiled at Bakura, "but you can toast with us, can't you?"

"Sure, I guess," Ryo shrugged, "but what's the occasion? Have I missed something?"

"Yeah, what's going on, guys?" Yugi wondered.

Joey came to stand beside his fiancé, grinning from ear to ear. "Well, we just figured it was about time we settled on a date for the wedding, and let you guys know."

The boys all sat up sharply. "Seriously?" Duke pressed. "What took you so long?"

"Well, you know, we had to find a calendar that showed the phases of the moon for next year," Joey pouted. "That's harder than it looks in the middle of summer."

Yugi's eyes widened and began to sparkle with joy. "You mean…"

"Of course." His best friend pounced on him and wrestled him into a headlock. "We had to pick a day when Yami could be there. I wouldn't want him to miss out on the cake, you know."

Rather than fight back, Yugi used the opportunity to seize Joey around the middle and hug him fiercely. "Thank you! That's so sweet of you!"

"We owe so much to both you and him," Mai said warmly. "We want you both to be there, so we picked a day when he'd be out of the Puzzle. What do you think of May? May twelfth, to be exact."

"May sounds good," Yugi chirped.

"Spring is a lovely time for a wedding," Ryo offered.

"That's the day, huh?" Tristan remarked.

"Yep. Twelfth of May, next year," Joey affirmed. "I'm tellin' you now so you can make sure you have that day off. All of you," he added, pointing at each of them.

"Consider it done," Duke said proudly. "Now crack open that bottle!"

Mai gleefully did so, and poured each of them enough to toast the promise. Yugi and Ryo declined anything more than that, but Duke and Joey were all for a full glass each. They raised a toast to the couple and then settled in to talk about it, whether anything had been planned beyond a date or not. "I talked to Téa about it," Mai informed her friends, "and she thinks her term at school will be over by then so she can be here. Even if it's not, she's flying back for it."

"Awesome," Tristan enthused. "Yeah, we gotta have the whole gang here for Joey's wedding. It's a milestone. A once in a lifetime opportunity to embarrass him in front of his family."

"Better be once in a lifetime," Duke teased.

"Hey, I'm in this for the long haul," Joey forcefully assured him. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't mean to go through with it. And I do." He gave Mai an exasperated look. "Though I don't know how I'm gonna survive the wedding. The marriage…I'm fine with that."

"I told you, we'll hit up my parents first," Mai said with a smooth smile. "They'll be so ecstatic to hear that their wayward daughter is actually settling down, they'll sit down and write the check out right there."

Joey clapped a hand to his face. "Oh no. We have to tell our parents."

Everyone else gave them both a boggled look. "You didn't tell your parents you were getting married?" Tristan yelped for all of them.

Flustered, Joey held up his hands. "It's not that we were hiding it or nothing! I mean, Serenity knows. She watched the tournament, she saw me propose. I just kinda took for granted that she told my mom, but I haven't told her directly yet…I guess it was just too big and scary…" He glanced at Mai again. "But we haven't told Mai's parents, no."

"I'm not very close to them," Mai sniffed. "It doesn't matter. We have a long engagement anyway. They won't even bother to ask when we got engaged, all that will matter is the wedding date."

Yugi raised his glass with the little sip of champagne left in the bottom. "And now that it's set, there's no turning back! I'm so proud of you guys!"

Everyone else raised their glasses to the sentiment as well. From there they returned to regular party mode, mostly eating and chatting, catching each other up on their lives, and occasionally playing games. After a while things began to wind down, and Bakura excused himself to go get a good night's sleep on account of needing to work on campus the next day. Yugi was sitting in the screened doorway to the balcony, enjoying the cool breeze that came to snap a hot streak across the city. Joey came and flopped down beside him, having refilled his glass and thinking it was a good time to pal around with his best buddy. Yugi nudged him in the shoulder as he sat down. "Look at you. I can't believe how far you've come," he complimented Joey. "I had no idea, that day we first met and you bullied me around, that someday I'd be all excited to go to your wedding."

"Yeah, kinda freaky," Joey agreed with a lopsided grin. "And not just going to it, Yug. We want you to be part of it."

"Part of it?" Yugi repeated, frowning curiously.

"Mai wants to have a Western-style wedding, not a traditional one," Joey explained. "So, we're gonna need people to be in the wedding party. Like a best man, and stuff."

Yugi began to beam happily, so much so that he nearly dissolved into tears. "Are you asking me, Joey?"

"Kinda." Joey looked over at him and saw his teary eyes, and headed it off by slinging an arm around his shoulders and shaking him gently. "Hey, stop that. Now, we haven't really talked about it, I don't know how many guys I'm supposed to recruit or what. And I really can't decide between you and Tristan – I was thinkin' about it last night and was up half the night because I can't pick who deserves to be best man more, him or you."

"Well, you have known him longer than me," Yugi put forth.

"But you mean a lot to me, maybe more than him," Joey reasoned. "I don't know. When Mai and I talk more, I'll know what I need to do. But I want both you and Tristan to stand up for me, okay?"

"Anything, Joey." Yugi pounced on him again. "That's so cool. I've never been in a wedding before. I can't even remember ever going to a Western-type one."

"Yeah, well…" Joey grinned. "Mai's not a very traditional kind of girl."

"I kind of figured that." Yugi giggled. "And I bet, since she's working for a fashion magazine, she'll have access to all the newest style dresses that'll cost you more than the ring you got her…"

"Gah, I don't want to think about that." Joey rolled his eyes. "Though that does remind me. Speaking of fashion. Have you made any plans with Yami for the next full moon, yet?"

Yugi eyed him perplexedly. "What does that have to do with fashion?"

"Hear me out," Joey implored. "Mai's going out of town on a business trip around that time, far as I know she's gonna be gone over the full moon. Some kind of fashion photo thing for the magazine, I dunno. But it means I'm gonna be free, and not only free, but bored. If you guys wanna go do something, I'm totally up for it."

"Ohh…" A grin began to dawn on Yugi's face. "Well, come to think of it, we hadn't really made plans yet, no. Do you have any ideas?"

"Maybe." Joey took a sip of his drink. "I was kinda thinking it was time for a boys' day out. I mean, I know he's your boyfriend and all, but he still knows how to have fun. We should do something fun, all three of us. Hey, what about the beach?" He glanced toward Yugi. "It's been a while. Have you even been there since we all went after high school was over?"

"Uhh no, actually…" Yugi pondered it. "It's the perfect time of year for it, I guess."

"Talk it over with him," Joey said with a nod toward the Puzzle. "Even if he doesn't feel up to going to the beach, we should hang out and do some guy things, just you and me and my other best buddy."

"Okay." Yugi smiled at him. "I'll let you know what he says. Sounds to me like a great idea."

"Cool." Joey winked. "You know where to find me."

Yami, in fact, loved the idea. He waited until Yugi was home alone and getting ready for bed before talking to him about it, and Yugi laid back for a while before going to sleep so the two of them could commune mentally. As long as the weather held fair and warm, they could plan to go to the beach with Joey and spend the day hanging out. The pharaoh's spirit could sense things in Yugi's deepest thoughts which he didn't even want to admit to himself, like the subconscious fear that as Joey and Mai's wedding became less abstract and more tangible – now that they had set a date – it would mean a gradual end to the friendship to which they had become comfortably accustomed. Yugi had heard of it happening before, how people changed after they got married and started spending all their time with their spouse rather than their friends and eventually dropped all their old pals, haunts, and hobbies. He didn't want it to happen to him and Joey, but he never said anything about it even to Yami. The fear lingered in the back of his mind, unspoken, where the pharaoh could sense it and ponder. The proposed "boys' day out" would go a long way toward assuaging Yugi's worries, and show him that Joey was still his best buddy even if both of them had significant others to whom their lives belonged. For that reason, Yami insisted that they take Joey up on the idea – though, he also wanted very much to go to the beach and soak his toes in the ocean again.

Mai had been moving up in the company and was now a high-level editor who got to go on trips to exotic locales in order to wrangle models for fashion photo shoots. This time she was, in fact, going to Hawaii, and cheekily promised to bring a seashell back for Yugi if he kept Joey out of trouble for the week. It meant Joey had all access to the car – the brand new car, the convertible Mai had just bought with a promotion bonus – and Yugi didn't have to even think about taking the train. Because of work, he didn't get a very good nap in before midnight on the night of the full moon, so the ritual drained him of enough energy to render him sleepy and somewhat insensible in his partner's embodied arms. Yami picked him up and put him to bed, insisting that he get plenty of sleep so they could have fun all day tomorrow. He contented himself with lying beside Yugi, serving as a pillow, while his young love slumbered with arms fastened around his partner's lean body. There would be plenty of time for more strenuous activities the next night, after they tired of sun and surf and wanted to be alone.

The summer weather had turned hot again, meaning that quite a number of people had the same idea as the boys that day. The beach was crowded, but not unpleasantly so, and there was enough space left near the waterline for the three of them to stake out their towels for an afternoon of playing in the surf, lying in the hot sun, and forgetting about the rest of the world. Since they hadn't been swimming or beachcombing since the first time, once again Yami had to borrow Yugi's only pair of swim trunks that still fit either of them, but Yugi passed it off with ease. "I'm not going to go in above my knees anyway," he reminded both partner and friend. "I don't want to get the Puzzle's chain wet."

Joey peered curiously at him as he relaxed on the towel and lifted his face to the sun. "You seriously don't take it off at all, on your ritual days?"

"Well…no." Yugi turned to him with a cute smile. "We've just gotten used to doing it that way. I don't mind. If it keeps Yami safe, then I'll do anything for him."

"What would it do?" Joey wondered. "If you took it off, I mean."

"Quite honestly, we don't know," Yami admitted. "There isn't an expectation that anything will happen – we are simply being cautious."

"The first time Shadi brought us the ritual, he suggested maybe we should be careful just in case," Yugi explained. "I don't want to break the connection between me and Yami while he's outside the Puzzle, maybe something would happen and he wouldn't be able to return. I don't want to lose him." His violet eyes shone with worry. "Ever since, I've just kept the Puzzle on me as a precaution. It isn't a big deal, I hardly notice it now."

"So you take it in the shower and everything?" Joey asked with a grin.

"Well, yeah…" Yugi pouted, seeing where this was going. "It's not the same as taking it in the ocean. I'm sure the salt water would rust the chain even faster than just having it in the shower with me for five minutes." He picked up the Puzzle and looked at the Eye on its front face. "I'm not worried about the Puzzle itself, it seems to resist even the tiniest chips and scratches, let alone water. It's still in perfect condition after five thousand years. It's just the chain I have to be careful about. That can rust."

"I don't even know why you have it on that big chain in the first place," Joey snorted. "Is it so it'll look cool?"

"No!" Yugi insisted. "It's more secure than that string I used to use. I don't want anybody just grabbing the Puzzle and snapping a cord off my neck." He tried to stifle the impish smirk that threatened to awaken on his lips. "The fact that it looks cool is just a happy side effect. Really, it's for security."

Joey laughed. "Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever you say. No worries, I'm just messin' with ya. If that's the way it's gotta be so you don't lose Yami, then I'm not gonna tell you otherwise. You know better than I do how this ritual stuff works." He glanced at the pharaoh, then, who sat beside Yugi with his shirt already off, basking in the sun. "Everything going all right with that? No more problems?"

Yami gave him a placid look in return. "For the most part, no. We've tried to do the same thing we did at the tournament every time, but I'm starting to think that the problem stems from the amount of energy the ritual requires to create this body out of the shadows." He glanced tenderly at Yugi. "Even though we take precautions, some nights, Yugi doesn't get as much time to eat or sleep and I can see, when I awake, that it takes a considerable amount of his energy."

Yugi smiled back at him. "Well, when it's a day like today, it's not really all that important how awake or energized I am at midnight. As long as the ritual works and you're here, it doesn't matter. Now, if there were something important we needed to be doing, then I would make absolutely sure I get a good nap in first."

"Like going out dancing until four in the morning," the pharaoh teased.

They all laughed at that, and settled down for a nice long lounge in the sun. Whenever it got too hot, or small children nearby too annoying, they took a break and went down to the water's edge together, to at least wade in as far as they could and splash each other to cool off. At one point, Joey convinced Yami to go for a longer swim with him, since they were free to dive underwater and swim out past the wading families. Yugi stood in the shallows with the waves lapping at his knees and watched with a hand shading his eyes as his lover cautiously followed Joey out into deeper water, testing his limits until he found the lack of ground beneath his feet disturbing and decided to swim back in. He still didn't actually know how to swim, but some of the motion felt natural and he knew enough to emulate Joey's movements. Diving down under the waves and feeling the cool water rushing past his face felt delightful, but anything more complicated than that was out of his experience. He splashed his way back to Yugi, and playfully soaked his lover's clothing before they all retreated back to their spot in the sand to rest and dry off.

People from all walks of life gathered together on the beach on days like this in search of the same kind of entertainment, sun and sand and water. Domino City's beach wasn't huge, but it was well-kept, and there were nice concessions providing treats to the hundreds of beachgoers flopped out on towels and blankets under the July sun. Families with small children, elder folk walking along the wet sand, and teenagers celebrating the end of summer term mingled comfortably in the anonymous crowds. A cluster of three young girls had gotten there early to stake out a good spot of sand, and spent most of their day lying out to soak up the sun and show off their bathing suits to any potential teenage boys who might happen past. They took a break to send all but one to the concessions stands for a snack, and sat together enjoying sodas and frozen popsicles while they looked around and sized up the crowds for potential eye candy. "Boys don't just go to the beach like we do," one complained to her cohorts. "I bet you any guy you see here today only came here because a girlfriend dragged him."

"That doesn't mean we can't still look and appreciate," a second giggled. "Besides, you never know what you'll find. Could be that special one is just walking on the beach, available, waiting to meet the right girl…"

"Yeah right," the third snorted.

"See anything while we were gone?" the first asked her.

"Not really," the third girl sighed. "It's not a good day for boy-watching."

"Ooo, what about him?" the second suddenly interrupted, pointing.

Her friends turned her way, trying to follow her gesture before she had to politely hide it. "Where? Which one?"

"The blond guy, over there." Second girl leaned back to speak more confidently to her cohorts, gesturing behind her hand so as not to be caught crudely pointing and gawking. "Next to the kid with the weird spiky hair. Look at the muscles on him!"

The other two sighed appreciatively at the same time. "Nice catch," the first girl complimented. "He's not all bulky but he is…"

"Built," the third finished for her. "Nice chest, nice abs…"

"He looks so hot with just that necklace hanging over his chest," the first added with a wistful sigh. "Kind of looks like a street punk, but…I like them kind of bad."

"You don't see a girlfriend anywhere, do you?" the second girl hastily asked.

"I don't even remember seeing those guys arrive," the third girl mused. "They're all wet, so maybe they were swimming and we just didn't see them."

"The freaky kid next to him isn't bad either," the first girl said thoughtfully. "Kind of skinny, but still cute."

"But would you look at his hair?" the second girl laughed. "And that big necklace he's wearing. It's so…weird."

"Wait a minute. I think I know those guys," the third girl suddenly said in warning.

The other two looked sharply at her. "What?" the first challenged. "What do you mean? Not from school…"

"No, not from school," the third scoffed. "They're way older than us, can't you tell? No, I've seen them before, like…on TV or something." She then sat up with a raised finger indicating epiphany. "That's right! When my brother was watching the world tournament for that Duel Monsters card game he plays. I watched it with him, that's where I saw those guys!" She gazed keenly toward the pair in the distance, nodding to herself, while the others hung over her shoulder trying to pick up on her wisdom. "The little guy with the weird hair is what I remember the most, he's impossible not to recognize. He's the world champion. Yugi…something. And the guy with him is the runner-up, they made a huge deal about those two in the final round both being from Domino and knowing each other." She turned to her friends with a sneaky grin. "Girls, we have just spotted celebrities."

"Minor celebrities," the second girl said dubiously. "I mean…Duel Monsters world champions? That's something your brother is into, but not me."

"Who cares? They're still known." The third girl reached over to her beach bag and began fumbling around in it. "And look at them! Especially the blond guy. He's hot! This is the perfect opportunity to go over and talk to him…"

The other two peered at her. "What are you doing?" the first girl wondered.

The third girl came out of her bag triumphant, with a pen and a scrap of paper. "I'm going to get their autographs," she grinned. "For my brother. He'll wet himself with joy; you know he will. And I'll get the chance to sidle over there and talk to some cute boys for a few minutes." She started to get up, taking a moment to brush sand off her butt and straighten out her swimsuit, and then stood towering over her friends. "You can come with me, or you can chicken out and sit here and watch while I go turn on the charm for a couple of Duel Monsters champions."

Yami had gone to handle the procuring of sodas all by himself, feeling confident in his ability to walk among the world like any normal person, leaving Yugi and Joey to sit and talk while they let the sun dry them off. Before the pharaoh could return to them, though, someone shyly came up behind Yugi and waited until she could catch their attention before interrupting. Joey finished saying something and then blinked at her, seeing as she apparently wanted to talk to them. "Um, hi there," the teenage girl in a two-piece swimsuit said timidly, wiggling her fingers in a sort of wave. "Excuse me, but…are you Yugi, the Duel Monsters world champion?"

Yugi looked up at her from over his shoulder, blinking in wonder. "Uh…yeah, that's me…"

"I thought so," the girl said with a big, beaming smile. "I saw you from over there and recognized you." She thumbed over her shoulder, indicating a random spot somewhere beyond where two more girls sat watching with wide eyes as their audacious friend made her move. "I'm sorry if I interrupted you, and I'm sure this is going to sound really stupid but…can I have your autograph? It's for my brother," she hastily added as she held out the paper and pen she had been hiding in her hand. "He's a huge fan of yours, he made me watch the tournament with him. That's how I knew it was you."

Yugi blushed brilliantly red, but he consented to taking the paper from her and balancing it on his leg to write. "I didn't realize I had fans," he giggled to himself. "At least, not here in my home town."

The girl grinned and then looked at Joey. "You're a Duel Monsters champion too, right? You dueled against Yugi…"

Joey suddenly got a hilariously smug grin on his face. "That's right," he boasted. "Joey Katsuya's the name. Second in the world – and soon to be first," he added tauntingly to Yugi. "Someday."

The girl laughed a little more than the remark deserved. "That's so cool," she gushed. "Two famous champions in one town. It must be my lucky day – can I…my brother have your autograph too?"

"Sure!" Joey crowed happily. Yugi was done, so he handed over the paper and smirked at Joey's enthusiastic rendering of his autograph. "That's kinda nice of you," he added with a smile for the bikini-clad girl. "I've never been asked for mine before."

"I have," Yugi sighed. "It's so weird."

The girl stood with her arms coyly clasped behind her back, beaming. "Well, I couldn't pass up my chance, you know? Thank you so much…" She took the paper back from Joey. "My brother will be so excited when I tell him I met you."

One of the other girls appeared silently at her shoulder, peering curiously into the middle of the group to see what they were talking about. Joey leaned back with a hand on the sand behind him to smile up at them. "No problem. Thanks for the attention."

At that moment, Yami happened to return carrying a little cardboard tray of drinks for his friends. He glanced in curiosity at the two girls chatting with Joey but sank to his knees next to Yugi to offer him the sodas without saying anything. "Oh, there you are," Yugi said happily. "Thanks! Did you have any trouble?"

"No, it went fine," Yami smiled. "I just had to stand in line for a while."

The girls' eyes widened at the newcomer's presence. They had been thinking Yugi was kind of cute, but this new specimen with the same weird hairstyle was captivatingly sexy by comparison! Lean and trim, with beautiful eyes and a graceful way of moving, it was almost enough to make up for his hair. They both collected themselves and looked back and forth between all three young men. "Hi," the autograph girl said brightly. "And you are…?"

Yami looked up, startled. Yugi chuckled. "Sorry, this is Yami. He's, uh…"

"Are you guys, like, twin brothers?" the other girl asked them.

Nonplussed, Yami picked up his soda and concentrated on the straw. Yugi answered for him, kindly reaching to lay a hand on top of his. "No, he's my…he's my boyfriend."

"Oh!" The girls looked at each other. "But you…uh…"

"It's a long story," Yugi said quickly, as if embarrassed.

The other girl looked to Joey. "You're not also…?"

"What? Oh, no," Joey assured, waving his hands. "Just them two."

"Oh, good," the girl said with some relief. Yami gave her a strange look, but said nothing.

The autograph-seeker tried to change the subject rather abruptly. "So, um…you must be out of school…"

"I'm in university," Joey answered casually, not noticing either the attention or Yugi and Yami's lack thereof. "Probably way older than you thought, huh?"

"That's so cool," she gushed. "So, does that mean you're like…old enough to drink?"

A wary look crossed Joey's face. "Uh…yeah…"

"Well, I hope your brother is happy with his autographs," Yugi interrupted, with a cheery emphasis to his voice to conclude the awkward conversation. "Tell him we're sorry we missed the chance to meet him. It's always nice to find more duelists around the city who are still into the tournaments."

"Oh…yeah, sure," the girl stammered, blinking.

Her friend grabbed her arm and began to tow her away. "Come on, Miko's guarding our stuff all by herself. It was nice to meet you," she added to the boys, and both gave them a wave before turning and trudging off across the sand to where their third friend sat by their towels and bags.

The three young men watched them go, and then Joey remarked, "Girls are weird."

"I can't believe they were that forward," Yugi hissed at him. "They came over here to hit on us!"

Joey grinned at him. "Embarrassed or flattered?"

Yugi glanced at Yami, but his stoic partner displayed no particular emotional reaction on his face. "Kinda uncomfortable," the younger one replied. "I mean, it's not like I've never signed autographs before, I told you about the game expo last fall…"

"Yeah, and that freaked you out big time."

"But this is just…odd." Yugi glanced over his shoulder; the three girls were now huddled together, whispering amongst themselves and giving them occasional furtive glances. He turned back to partner and friend and picked up his icy-cold soda. "I don't mind a friendly fan now and then, but they got all weird when I introduced Yami as my boyfriend."

"Ah, yeah, I noticed that," Joey said sympathetically. "Sorry man, but people are still stupid. If it makes you feel any better," he added with a cheesy grin, "I think they were after me, not you."

"And you have a fiancé!" Yugi scolded him.

"I know, I know! If they had gone any further I was gonna let 'em down easy. No harm in friendly chatter." He leaned over and patted Yugi on the shoulder. "Forget about 'em. They're just high school girls anyway, what do they know?"

Yugi glanced from him to Yami, who once again sat with his usual calm betraying nothing of what he might be thinking inside, sipping at his soda. "Are you okay? Did they bother you at all?"

The pharaoh raised an eyebrow and gave him a faint smile. "No more than usual. I've come to expect a certain level of ignorance from people. I paid it no mind."

"Okay. As long as you're not upset." Yugi took a breath and let it out, finally able to smile. "You're right, let's forget about them. They're not worth it."

Beyond them, the girls sat talking, digesting what had just happened while the third girl tucked away her autographed paper for her brother. "Can you believe it? He said that was his boyfriend!" the other hissed. "I didn't know gay people were into card games…"

"I had no idea," girl number three whispered back. "I mean, they don't tell you stuff like that when you're watching tournaments. Oh man…no, I better not tell my brother. He'll flip out!"

"No, don't go around telling people that!" the other girl said with a shiver. "That's just wrong…"

"Hey, it's not that big a deal." Their friend Miko, who had remained in place, gazed past them to where the three young men sat enjoying their sodas and talking casually amongst themselves. "So he's gay. What's the problem?"

The other two girls shared an exasperated look. "Oh, that's right," autograph girl sighed. "She's into that boyslove stuff."

"Well, yeah! It's hot!" Miko grinned at her friends and then sat back to surreptitiously observe the boys, just in case they felt like being openly affectionate in front of an audience. "You guys need to seriously relax. It's a normal thing, it's not like there's no gay men in Domino at all, ever. Haven't you heard about some of the dance clubs downtown?"

The other two shook their heads and decided to look elsewhere for boys to ogle. They did not share their friend's opinion and had better targets to watch than boys who didn't like girls.

Despite their proximity to the ocean, there wasn't enough of a breeze to make up for the extremely hot sun beating down on them, so Yugi, Yami, and Joey tired of lazing around earlier than they expected and started to talk about leaving. They had tentatively talked of going back to Joey's to change and then out for food and goofing off, not willing to cut the "boys' day out" short for anything. For a while they sat on their towels discussing where might be the best to go for food, and then Joey sat forward with his elbows on his knees. "All right, then. If you guys are up for it, that's what we'll do. You can shower off and change at my place, and then we'll hit the indoor mall for a bit. See if their little arcade is worth anything."

"It's probably smaller than Duke's shop," Yugi laughed, "but considering Duke and Tristan are too busy with work and other stuff to join us today anyway…"

"It's all right." Yami leaned over and favored him with a kiss on the cheek before handing him his shirt. "That leaves more time for the three of us to spend together."

"Yeah, I don't get to hang out with you guys as much as I want," Joey pouted. "Stupid school and stupid work."

"How'd you get off today, anyway?" Yugi wondered while wrestling with his t-shirt.

"They worked me double-shifts last weekend so they owed me," Joey shrugged. "All that hard work is paying off, though – check this out!" He flexed an arm, eliciting giggles from Yugi and a wry smile from Yami. "Aw yeah. No wonder those girls wanted to flirt with me."

"And then you'd have to tell them you're engaged and watch their dreams die," Yugi said with a smirk.

"Hey, I can't help it if I'm hot," Joey grinned, at which the other two burst out laughing.

They pulled their shirts on and gathered their things together, deciding to walk back across the sand barefoot until they made it to the sidewalks. The pavement was liable to be extra-scorching today, but for now, they carried their shoes and padded across the shifting sand, still talking amongst themselves. Yami slipped his hand into Yugi's, and they paused their conversation just long enough to grin at each other before Yugi kept talking. It was hard to be down about anything with the sun in his eyes and the people he loved around him, but as they walked, Yugi glanced aside at a sudden motion in time to see a parent grab her young child and pull her away from them, turning her around and hiding her eyes. The little girl wasn't even in their path, but the mother spirited her away before the boys passed by. Yugi blinked, disturbed, realizing after a moment that it was exactly what it looked like. Yami had noticed as well, but Joey missed it. "What in the world?" Yugi whispered to his companions. "Did you see that? That lady just hid her child's eyes so she wouldn't see us!"

"What, really?" Joey looked around, but didn't see the mother and child in question.

"Yes, I saw it," Yami murmured.

"No way!" Joey exclaimed.

The sunshine began to fade from Yugi's face. "I don't know what the problem is," he grumbled, "I'm just holding hands with my boyfriend…"

"You're not doing anything wrong, Yug," Joey said firmly, glancing back one more time with a glare in case the woman was still watching them. "You don't do anything rude in public like make out or anything, holding hands is perfectly normal."

"I wish other people would see it that way," Yugi said quietly.

"Give 'em something to really think about," Joey snickered. "Give Yami a big ol' smooch right in front of them."

"I'm not going to do that," Yugi sighed. "I don't want to be a jerk about it."

"Even so, it isn't their place to disapprove," Yami reasoned, glancing down at his partner. "It's no less rude for them to gape or whisper or pull their children away."

Yugi's eyes softened a little, as he walked with his head down. "I guess you have a point," he murmured.

Yami tugged him to a stop and brushed his cheek with his other hand, getting him to look up and start to smile. "It's all right, Yugi. I feel the stares, too, but I don't intend to let them bother me. I don't get the chance to be out here with you very often, I want to make the most of it just as much as you do." He bent down and kissed Yugi lightly on the lips, a tender little smooch of affection, and then straightened up and smiled cutely. "As long as we're not being rude, we should expect the same from others. Right?"

Yugi smiled softly back. "Right."

They started off again, deliberately not looking around at people just in case any of them had any adverse reactions to their open affection. Once they reached the sidewalk they had to stop and put their shoes on, but then Yami's hand was right back in Yugi's, guiding him along the walk toward the parking lot. Yugi's feelings had been soothed, but now he remained thoughtful, inwardly pondering the gamut of reactions he had received today and why they all seemed to happen at once. He knew that people generally were not likely to accept same-sex relationships, but so often he was able to go around the city with Yami on their ritual days without a single incident. Why today? Why did people seem so keen on staring, whispering, and turning away from two young men who just wanted to hold hands? They had agreed early in the day, before Joey picked them up, that places like the beach were too public to get caught making out, but they didn't have any intentions of doing so anyway. Other couples could walk down the street or loiter around the park or beach wrapped up in self-indulgent kisses, why couldn't he? And what of the mother who whisked her child out of their way as if holding hands with another boy meant he was prone to kidnapping and molesting her? It bothered him, of course, but Yami was right. They should be treated with respect like any other couple, even though he knew they weren't ever going to get it. At least they had friends who cared, a grandpa who loved them, and each other. Yugi glanced aside at his partner as they walked to the car and smiled to himself. It was a true miracle that he could even hold this hand in the first place, perhaps he shouldn't take it for granted.