Here it is. A bit delayed, but still. I was hoping this would be my celebration for this starting spring but then we got more snow. Anyway, the idea is there, so enjoy^^

When the sun rose on Saturday morning, Yami was already awake and staring out of his apartment windows. He had gotten only a few hours of sleep and only adrenaline kept him awake now. His thoughts were speeding about a mile a second and his heart wasn't any better.

Yami glanced down, whirling coffee around in the cup. It was pitch black and still, he thinks that he would need another one. The next glance was shot towards his cell phone which lay innocently on the coffee table just half a meter away. He hadn't let it out of his sight since he had woken up and even though he had been awake only an hour, he had checked its battery and sound seven times so far. Yami reached for the phone again, checking those things again and sighed. This was so stupid but the mere thought that he would miss Yugi's call kept the phone glued to his hands.

He downed his coffee and walked back to the kitchen, pouring some more into the cup. Seto's party was scheduled starting at six o'clock in the evening so there was plenty of time to just stare at the walls. He didn't even need to think about what to wear, because he was way too familiar with those parties. He had several different formal outfits and he already knew that he would wear the one with the crimson tie tonight.

So, until then he would be able to keep staring at his phone.

It was 2:50 pm and Yami was playing dead on his couch. The TV was on but he had no idea what it was showing. He has been staring at the ceiling for about an hour now and he wasn't even sure if he had dozed off a little.

Because of his deep coma-like state, Yami almost jumped out of his skin when his cell phone suddenly started to ring on the coffee table. Wide awake, he reached after it and fell down to the floor with a loud thump.

"Shit!" Yami cursed, rubbing his head and bounced after the phone, grabbing it before he fell back to the floor and almost broke his nose.

There was a number without a name on the screen and Yami gulped noticing his hand shaking when he tapped the green icon and then put the speaker on.

"Hello, Yami speaking?" he breathed, staring at his phone like it would give him an answer to all the big questions in life. And more.

"Oh, hello Yami." A very familiar and very wanted voice coming through the line. Yami broke in a smile like an idiot.

"Hi, Yugi." He bit his lips before he could say that he had been waiting for this call. There was a limit to how lovestruck he could allow himself to be.

"Sorry that I haven't able to call sooner." Yugi sounded really sorry. "We had a little problem at the stable but now everything is fine." Yami could hear his smile on his voice.

"What happened?" Yami frowned.

"Oh, nothing serious," Yugi reassured. "A few ponies just fled away from their pasture and we had to hunt them down before the students came."

"Okay. Good to hear that everything is okay now." Yami smiled, shaking his head. It was so strange how fond he had come feel about the stable at the same strength of his fondness toward Yugi.

There was neighing sound in the background and Yami guessed Yugi must still be inside the stable.

"So, I was thinking about tomorrow..." Yugi started and Yami tensed up.

"Yeah?"

"There is an International Horse Show in the Domino Arena. Would you like to come there with me?"

Yami's eyebrows raised almost to his hairline.

"Horse Show? Sounds interesting." Another thing that he wouldn't have said just a few weeks ago.

"Really?" Yugi sounded almost surprised and Yami smirked.

"Yeah. What time is it?"

"They open the doors at ten o'clock in the morning but the show doesn't start until eleven. Though it would be fun to just look around before they start..." Yugi hesitated a little.

"Want to meet me there at ten?"

Yami smiled slowly.

"Sounds like a plan," he chuckled.

"At the main door?"

"Sure," Yugi cheered and then yelped. "Pharaoh! Don't eat my ear!"

Yami burst out laughing.

"He likes you!" he teased, feeling almost jealous towards the horse which could show its tenderness without looking stupid or something.

"Yeah, really…" Yugi sighed.

"Now my ear is wet and he is acting like an angel..." Despite Yugi's scolding, Yami could easily hear his love for the horse in his voice. He was able to hear Pharaoh's neigh from the phone and Yugi melted like ice cream.

"Shh… Everything is alright," he whispered to the horse and Yami got chills from mere thought that Yugi would speak to him like that. Suddenly his pants weren't as loose as before.

He countered with a chuckle.

"Okay. I think he wants your attention," Yami couldn't help teasing.

"See you tomorrow."

"See you. Have fun at your meeting today." Yugi's voice was still soft and Yami's mouth was suddenly very dry.

"Yeah, sure. Bye."

"Bye."

Yami stared at his phone and then, with care, he saved Yugi's number in his phone and smiled. Yes… That would be so awesome. As soon as he left Seto's party, he would start to wait for tomorrow. Jeez. He was waiting for it already!

The sun was starting to set when Yami parked his car, looking at Seto's mansion. It was a huge, imperial-looking building and would swallow a thousand people at once. Usually, it was only Seto, his little brother Mokuba and a handful of servants.

Now, it was full of lights and people who had been come to the party. It would be easy to say that there was the whole upper crust of Domino. If you had money, power or just the right connections, you would be there. Yami rolled his eyes and slide his fingers through his hair. Just a few hours and then he could go home and get some sleep. He definitely didn't want to be tired tomorrow.

He stepped up the stairs to the main door and was greeted by one of the servants.

"Sir Yami, welcome."

"Thanks," Yami muttered, taking the offered wineglass and wandering further in the mansion. He had spent so many days of his life here that he knew it's interior almost as well as Seto and Mokuba.

He found Seto in the main salon which opened to the garden. The windows covered almost all the end wall, showing the garden. Yami was able to see a few guests had wandered outside to enjoy the last warm evening before winter. Though there wasn't any green left in the garden, excluding a few conifers, it was lit up beautifully.

"Evening, Seto," Yami greeted with a nod when he reached him. Seto had dressed in his usual attire. The long white jacket drew every woman's attention to Seto. Yami smirked in his mind. Those women would have got a better response from a stone or even from an ice cube.

"Yami," Seto greeted back with his usual frown. His sharp blue eyes shot a glance to Yami's being.

"Still keeping up that new hobby of yours?"

Yami grimaced.

"It's not your business," he snapped back and Seto smirked, but before he could say anything, Yami felt someone tugging his hand. He looks down and noticed the widely smiling face of Mokuba. Seto's younger brother couldn't be any more different from his older brother without being totally different species. Where Seto was cold as metal in midwinter, tall like a fucking lamppost and had narrow sharp eye and short brown hair, Mokuba was short,radiated kindness and childlike curiosity all around him. He had thick black hair and his eyes were wide and colored by blue-tinted gray.

"I heard you ride too," Mokuba beamed and Yami felt how his cheeks got hot at the mention of his new hobby.

"Yeah," he muttered. Surely Mokuba's hobby was far more understandable than his because Mokuba was, after all, only ten years old.

"Nii-sama bought me a pony!" Mokuba told him and Yami raised his brow to Seto who looked away and muttered something.

"You want to come and see him?" Mokuba pleaded. "Please, Yami-sama?"

Yami sighed mentally but nodded.

"Okay, lead the way." He smiled to the kid who skipped outside and Yami abandon his glass on a table and followed. After all… This was far more comfortable than standing inside and chit-chatting with those boring people.

"How long have you been riding?" Yami asked when they stepped through to the gate and arrived at the side-court where there was a small stable and pasture. Yami shook his head with a smirk. If it's for Mokuba, Seto would do anything. Even build his own stable.

"Almost two years now," Mokuba smiled, skipping towards the stable and waved Yami to hurry.

"Come! He is inside tonight."

Yami followed and stepped inside the small stable, noticing how neat it was. Seto had Probably hired new staff just to take care of the pony.

Surprisingly enough, there wasn't just one but three large box stalls. Although only one had a resident.

"Isn't he gorgeous?" Mokuba beamed, petting his pony's neck. The pony was probably only four feet tall. It had red copper color fur and a thick, black mane and tail. Surprisingly, the pony had bright blue eyes. It looked almost like Mokuba himself and Yami fought back urge to smile.

"He is," he said instead, walking closer.

"What's his name and breed?" After all these weeks, he already knew that some basics were almost compulsory to ask about the horses. Mokuba smirked from ear to ear.

"His name is Blue Eyes and he is Dartmoor pony."

Yami nodded slowly, feeling how muscles in his stomach were cramping when he held back his laugh. Oh gosh… Seto's face would have been a sight to see! Too bad he hadn't been there when Mokuba had chosen that name.

"Who has been teaching you?" Yami asked, patting the pony's neck and smiling at its thick mane.

"Oh, I have a private teacher! It's so awesome! I even got nii-sama to invite my teacher here."

"Hmm, I would like to meet your teacher," Yami smiled. Mokuba sounded just like all those girls at the stable when they started fangirling about Yugi. It didn't really surprise him that Seto had hired the best teacher for Mokuba.

"Oh, you will!" Mokuba winked an eye.

"There will be a show just..." he glanced at his watch, "oh, about in twenty minutes."

Yami raised a brow. Okay, this really sounded interesting. He hadn't expected Seto being that open about Mokuba's hobby.

"Where will it will be?"

"I have my own riding court just on the other side that fence," Mokuba pointed outside and towards the high, neatly cut hedge.

"Come. I think we should go back. Nii-sama is going to give a speech and the show is right after it."

"Okay. Let's go then." Yami patted Blue Eyes' neck one more time and followed the kid back to the mansion.

Every guest had arrived and they were gathering at the main salon. Mokuba stepped by his brother in front of the people and Yami dropped behind, standing by the windows.

Seto didn't hesitate when he answered all those gazes with his own.

"Welcome," he said, the voice easily carried through the salon.

"I have just a few words to say to before we go to see the show you have been waiting for."

Yami heard whispering and noticed that everyone looked as curious as he was. Apparently, no one knew what kind of show it would be.

"Like some of you already know," Seto continued, "My younger brother has been interested in riding for two years. His teacher is one of the best in our country and has been chosen to represent Japan in the next Summer Olympic."

Yami's brows raised to his hairline. Gosh, Seto had definitely hit the jackpot with the teacher for Mokuba… He could see Mokuba's excitement clearly. The kid could barely keep himself in his skin.

"You will see what an awesome rider my teacher is!" Mokuba beamed and Yami smirked at Seto's face. There must be something really interesting in the ceiling.

"We will be going now to the riding court," Seto continued.

"The show will be starting soon."

People started flowing outside and Yami dropped back to Seto's side.

"I must admit that I'm very surprised. You of all of people organizing a riding show in your party," Yami smirked and Seto glared at him.

"Seems you don't know how big the riding world really is," Seto snarled.

"If you think it is just for little girls, you won't win any competitions outside the safety of your stable."

"I won fourth place in the ponies show jumping competitions last year," Mokuba grinned and Yami's brows shot up.

"Just after one year of training?" He remembered that Mokuba had said that he had been riding only two years.

"Mokuba's teacher is the best," Seto said matter-of-factly, raising Yami's curiosity.

Seto, Mokuba, and Yami stopped by riding the court's fence and curiously whispering crowd spread alongside the fence. There were three jumping obstacles on the court and they were anything but small.

Yami noticed that the gate from the stable to the court was open. A young girl stepped through to it, holding a simple cd which she put into the built-in stereo system and then looked up to Seto.

Seto nodded once, turning around, looking at his guests.

"Ladies and gentleman," he smirked and Yami bit back his laugh.

"Our representative of the Summer Olympic: Yugi Muto and his horse Pharaoh."

Yami's jaw hit the ground at the same time the girl pressed the play button and the music started. It was more rhythmical than classical music but still, it flowed like water. Or Pharaoh's tail when Yugi trotted to the court, looking straight forward and only focusing on riding.

Yami was only able to stare at him, tuning out the crowds whispering. Yugi would be going to the Olympics? He remembered their conversation from Monday.

"Are you now training for some competition?"

"Yeah. But it's not as big a deal as your progress."

Yami rolled his eyes, looking at Yugi, who was riding like the music had been become solid and took a form of the horse and its rider. Yeah… Nothing big at all… Just the Olympics Yami held back urge to groan.

The music speed up and Yugi raised to a gallop still looking like he hadn't done anything at all.

"He is so amazing," Mokuba sighed and Yami glanced to the kid, who leaned against the fence and stared at Yugi.

"I wish I could ride like that."

"Someday you will," Yami smiled and exchanged looks with Seto, who smiled shortly.

"Still thinking that riding is just for little girls?"

"Nope," Yami shook his head, smirking dryly.

"Not at all." He didn't know even a quarter of all the moves Yugi and Pharaoh did in the court. Right now Yugi had almost stopped Pharaoh and the stallion turned around its back hooves, only raising its front and turning with gallop's steps.

When the whole circle had been made, Yugi switched to a trot and shorted it so short that Pharaoh barely moved forward. The stallion raised its legs very high and its tail did a circular movement, showing how hard the stallion focused on its task.

In the corner Yugi released the trot and Pharaoh lengthened its steps, almost flying by them. Yami was actually surprised that the stallion left hoof prints on the ground.

Following the music, Yugi started galloping again and this time he turned towards those obstacles. Pharaoh lowered its muzzle like it had used his head to calculate how big the obstacle was. Then, one smooth jump and Yugi and Pharaoh flew over the obstacle and landed with a thump, turning their focus to the next obstacles which they managed just as smoothly as the first one.

Yugi smiled a little when he galloped one more time around the court and then, together with the music, he stopped at the center of the court and bent his head. As if he were thanking the music.

Mokuba was the first one who started clapping but Yami was only a second after him and soon the whole crowd was applauding. Well, excluding Seto, who only stood with arms crossed and smirking.

"That was so awesome!" Mokuba called, jumping over the fence and actually walked toward Yugi and Pharaoh. Yami had been waiting for running but seems that Mokuba had learned something during these years.

"Thank you, Mokuba," Yugi answered smiling and hopped down from Pharaoh's back. He had changed his normal stable attire to the black jacket and pants that hugged his legs in just right ways. Way too well if someone had asked Yami.

Yugi took a piece of carrot from his pocket and give that to Pharaoh, who accept the treat but not even Mokuba tried to pat the stallion.

Yami let Seto take care of his guests and walked to them. Yugi looked up and his eyes widened.

"Yami?" Yugi blinked as if Yami would transform into someone else.

"Hello, Yugi," Yami smiled dryly, lifting his eyebrow.

"So, going to the Olympics, huh?"

Yugi cleared his throat and combed Pharaoh´s long mane with his fingers.

"Yeah… I thought you knew."

"No, I didn't."

"You know each other?" Mokuba asked, looking from Yugi to Yami and back, trying to follow their conversation.

"Yeah. Yugi has been training me as well," Yami answered.

"That's awesome!" Mokuba beamed.

"I need to tell nii-sama!" And then he was gone, running like the little devil he was.

Yugi laughed, lifting his gaze up to Yami.

"Seriously, when you said that you have a meeting tonight, I didn't think we had the same meeting."

"Me either," Yami smirked.

"Awesome riding, by the way. It that a part of your show in the Olympics?"

"No," Yugi shook his head.

"I have a few different kinds of programs for shows or parties. And thank you. Pharaoh was in a very good mood today." Yugi kissed the stallion's muzzle and the horse neighed, sounding very pleased with itself. Yami did his best and didn't roll his eyes.

"Sensei? Should I cool Pharaoh down?" The girl approached them and Yugi looked at her.

"Yes, please," he smiled.

"Yami, this is Aiko. She is one of our permanent stable girls."

The girl smiled at Yami and offered her hand.

"I've heard about you," she admitted.

"Only good things, I hope," Yami smirked and the girl laughed, winking an eye.

"Yeah."

Yami felt chills in his back and Yugi laughed, handing Pharaoh's reins to Aiko.

"You can let him eat some grass if he wants," he told the girl.

"Okay. I take care of him."

"Thanks." Yugi smiled and hugged his stallion once more before he turned to Yami.

"Shall we go inside, then?"

"Oh, you're staying?"

"Just for a moment," Yugi shrugged.

"Mr. Kaiba wants me to meet some people but I need to take care of Pharaoh so I won't stay too long."

It was so weird to hear Yugi call Seto so formally, but Yami understood. After all, they weren't related and Seto was Yugi's customer. Yami only hoped that Seto paid him well enough.

"How're your feet?" he asked when they walked back to the mansion.

"Almost normal. I still sleep keeping them propped and if I drop something onto them..." Yugi smiled shyly.

"Then I can only hope there won't be any kids nearby."

"Oh, you curse?" Yami teased with a friendly tone and Yugi glared at him, though still smiling.

"I'm a college student, after all. What did you think I was?"

"Hmm… don't know… Maybe some kinda monk?"

Yugi smirked.

"You should be happy that I don't use a crop with Pharaoh."

Yami felt oddly pleasant chills going down his spine and he smirked at Yugi.

"You sure that you would be able to keep the crop that long?" he almost purred, stepping closer to Yugi who only lifted his gaze up, not backing up even an inch.

"I'm, after all, a very talented trainer," he said back, eyes flashed with confident.

One step more and Yugi would be cornered, Yami though absent-mindedly, moving his weight off his leg.

"Oh, that was an amazing show, Mr. Muto!"

They both froze still like movie characters when someone presses the pause-button, turning their gaze towards to very tall woman, who almost grabbed Yugi with her.

"How long you have been riding, my boy?"

"S-since I was eight," Yugi answered, glancing quickly at Yami who had been left standing there like a statue.

"Oh, wonderful! I have a daughter who..."

Yami tuned the woman's voice out and shook his head. Poor Yugi… He highly doubted that he would be able to escape anytime soon.

"So, Yugi teaches you as well?" Seto's voice didn't surprise him at all and Yami turned around, nodding to his cousin.

"Yes. Though," he smirked dryly, "I was very bewildered when I met him the first time."

"Me too," Seto gave a very rare confession.

"I had been told that he's the best teacher nearby but when I met him..." Seto chuckled.

"I highly doubted it. But he had a very impressive collection of prizes, so I gave him a chance."

"And then Mokuba won as well."

"Fourth place, but it was a very high-class competition."

"Jumping or dressage?"

"Jumping. Mokuba doesn't like dressage that much, but Yugi insists on it."

"You can't just jump around, you need to also ride all those gaps." Seto and Yami said at once, sparing a glance and smirked.

"Yep, just like Yugi," Yami nodded. "And I must admit that he is right."

"He will be participating in the Olympics, after all. It isn't easy to get there."

"Indeed..." Yami muttered and looked at Yugi, who was chatting which two energetic elderly ladies. And somehow managed to look like he was actually enjoying himself. Yami rolled his eyes and nodded to Seto, going to get some food. Yugi should be an actor…

About an hour later, Yami noticed a very familiar character with tri-colored hair slipping out of the door and hurrying to the stables. Yami smirked silently, taking his phone and sending a quick message.

Good luck with your escape. See you tomorrow. -Yami.

There was a minute pause before his phone buzzed.

Thanks. I wanted to say goodnight, but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to escape. See you tomorrow. -Yugi.

Yami chuckled and shoved the phone back to his pocket. Time to at least try to enjoy himself. Maybe he would find someone dumb enough to challenge him to a Duel.

Thank you, and as always, comments are hoped for.