Kumori: Okay, sorry to say this, but I don't think I'll finish this before Christmas…but perhaps Boxing Day or the day after. The same goes for the Twelve Lemons of Christmas.
Kagayami: She's super busy around Christmas time…and even though it'll be a little late, it'll still be in the Christmas season!
Kumori: And thank you SO much to everyone who reviewed. I love the positive feedback. ..:: Throws candy canes and Yugi plushies to reviewers ::.. Merry Christmas!
Day Three
Amethyst eyes squinted, sliding from right to left in a rhythmic motion. Yugi put his hands on his hips and blew a lock of golden bang from his eyes. "Hey, Yami! Did you find anything yet?"
His yami, currently on his knees and peering underneath their car, shook his head. "Nothing."
Yugi made a little noise of annoyance. At first when he'd received a letter that morning, with a brief set of instructions, he'd been rather excited. But Yugi Mutou could get rather impatient at times, and this just happened to be one of them.
He sighed and let his eyes run over the note he'd gotten that morning again, searching for anything he'd missed.
Yugi,
I know how much you love games. So here's one for you. I've hidden ten messages around your house…each one should be easy to find if you look within yourself. Have fun.
Love,
Eternal
The first few had been easy enough. One had been taped to the front door, another dangling from a string on his tree. Two had been on the hood of his car, and yet another had been tucked under the door matt. Five notes, each one rather simple in nature. Just one word, scrawled in black ink on a little five by three inch card.
Forget
I
You
And
Forever
The hikari wrinkled his nose. It seemed that the other five didn't exist. It had been over half an hour, now, of he and his yami searching fruitlessly around their home.
'Think, Yugi, think,' he told himself, 'Where would they be? Look inside yourself…look inside yourself…what does that mean?'
And quite suddenly, the answer was there. Clear as day. His eyes widened, and he broke out into a smile. He was sure he knew the hiding places of the other five cards. "Yami!" he called, "Yami, follow me!"
His darkness gave him an odd look, but didn't argue. His crimson eyes shone with confusion as his hikari led him back into the house. "Aibou, I don't think he was actually in the house…that's called 'breaking and entering'…"
Yugi shook his head. "No, Yami. Keep on your shoes and follow me."
Yugi took the stairs two at a time and bounded straight into his room. He could practically feel his yami itching for an explanation, but Yugi was sure he'd understand soon enough.
He didn't pause once he was in his bedroom, but rather he ran straight to his window and threw open the glass. "Follow me, and be careful!" he called over his shoulder to his yami, but he didn't give the darkness time to respond.
With a lithe sleekness that most people didn't know Yugi Mutou was capable of, the tri-colour-haired duelist shimmied out his window and held fast to the criss-cross of wood that usually held ivy during the summer, but now was covered in only dead branches.
"Yugi! Yugi, what are you doing? Are you insane? You'll fall!"
Yugi nearly laughed out loud at the tone of Yami's voice. It was that worried-panicked-mother tone of voice that was only ever used on Yugi himself.
"Relax, Yami! I do this all the time! Just follow me!"
It was slow going. By the time Yugi had convinced his dark to follow, then begun the tedious climb up, his fingers were starting to go numb. It was a relief when they relinquished their death grip on the wood as the hikari pulled himself up onto the game shop roof.
Yami was panting slightly as he, too, pulled himself up. "Yugi, what are you doing? What's this all about?"
Yugi grinned at his darkness. "Before I met you, this is where I used to go when I was feeling really alone. I would just sit here and watch Domino life pass me by," he explained, "And then, once I made friends, this is where I went when I just needed some time off, or some time to think. And now, this is where I come to just relax by myself."
Yami blinked. "Yugi…but, why come here now?"
The hikari smiled brightly, eyes shining. "Look inside myself. This is where I always come to look inside myself."
Sure enough, when Yugi found the sixth note tied to the chimney, the rest seemed to just pop out at the duo. The seventh, in the storm drain, the eighth under a loose shingle, the ninth taped beneath the eaves trough, the tenth stuck just on the inside of the chimney.
This time, when Yugi placed the cards out before them, and rearranged them in a few different patterns to get it right, he couldn't help but beam at the simple and yet touching message.
Don't
Ever
Forget
That
I
Love
You.
Now
And
Forever.
That evening, as he curled up on the couch next to his yami, he couldn't help but smile every time he thought back to it. In his bedroom, it was tacked up next to the poems, over looking a pad of paper –
On the Tenth day of Christmas, my stalker gave to me,
Ten words of romance,
Nine singing children,
Eight strings of lights,
Seven mushy poems,
Six fun-filled albums,
Five stunning hours,
Four tins of cocoa,
Three lighted candles,
Two helpful letters,
And a sprig of mistletoe.
LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE
Kumori: I'm sorry I'm not going to finish this on time! But it'll still be out in enough time to let you enjoy the Christmas spirit! Happy Holidays! See you Boxing Day!