Author's Note: Just in case I never mentioned it, Kawa no Kami is the river spirit that gives Jounouchi the gold and Yuugi the bitter dumpling/medicine. Also, I cut the scenes that bored me because I want this story OVER. :|
DON'T FREAKING WORRY EVERYONE THERE'S AN EPILOGUE.
Chapter 12
"Yu-Baaba's got a test planned for you when we get there," Seto explained as Atemu flew up beside him, so the two humans could hear him. "All you have to do is pass her test, and she'll let you and your family return across the river back to your world. After you pass the test, you'll only have a moment to say goodbye to Mai before you have to leave." He snorted. "Because she will demand a goodbye. You can count on it."
"You say that as if you're sure we'll pass the test," Yuu commented. "If she tries to make Jou-kun walk a straight line, we're doomed."
Jou glared at him, then huffed, crossing his arms petulantly. "Shut up." But he couldn't deny that he was worried. He'd never been any good at tests, and with the fate of Yuu's family at stake, he was terrified of failing them.
"You'll be fine." The brunet smirked. "But if you fail, I'll just piss her off to the point that she sends you home just to get me out of her hair."
"…I think I like you better this way," Jou commented quietly. "You didn't seem right, just taking her orders and not fighting back."
Seto glanced down at him and hummed. "Yes, well, I didn't have much choice." He couldn't help a smug smile when he saw how red the blond's lips were. While he'd admit he'd only kissed him because he'd gotten lost in the moment, he was proud of his handiwork; his bottom lip was swollen from being nibbled and he'd even managed to get the blond to kiss him back.
"I'm just glad you can go see your brother," Yuu replied, smiling at him.
"Hey, there they are!"
"Jou! Yuu!"
The two humans turned and couldn't help a smile when they saw Mai waving at them from the roof of the bathhouse, and she was soon joined by some of the other workers, including Honda, Otogi, and Kamajii. Yu-Baaba was pacing back and forth in front of a pen of pigs, and she turned to face them as both Seto and Atemu came to a landing on the bridge.
Her face twisted into a sour expression as the two humans were set down, even as Yu-bird flew Boh over to see her. "I see you've failed to bring my baby back, Seth—"
The large mouse's shape twisted about until he was back in his original form, his feet slamming into the wood with his full weight as he smiled happily at his mother; while his adventure had been fun, he'd never been away from his mother so long before. "Mama!"
She was just as happy to see him—if not happier. "My baby!" The old crone through her arms around him, then quickly leaned back to examine him. "Are you traumatized? Did they do terrible things to you?" She paused, then looked back up at him in surprise. "You're standing up all by yourself. When did that happen?"
Seto scowled and took a step forward. "Don't forget your promise! You said you'd return Jounouchi, Yuugi, and their family back to their world."
Yu-Baaba huffed. "I believe the deal required them to pass one final test before I released them from their contracts." When the bathhouse workers booed at her, she turned and roared, "SHUT UP!"
Boh frowned. "Stop it, Mama. Leave them alone." When she gasped and turned to look up at him in surprise, he turned to smile at the two humans, who returned the gesture, albeit a bit nervously. "I like them. We had a really fun time on the train and making thread."
His mother was clearly confused by the mentioning of thread, but she didn't comment on it, instead appearing very distressed. "But sweetie, a deal is a deal! I have to give them one final test!"
He scowled. "If you make Jou cry again, I won't like you anymore. He doesn't like crying."
"Just tell everybody!" the blond exclaimed in exasperation. A moment later, however, Jounouchi took a deep breath, glanced at his friend, then began walking toward them. "Your mom's right, though, Boh. A deal's a deal. It would be wrong of her not to keep her word."
Yuugi smiled at the large baby sweetly. "It's only fair, Boh." He turned his attention to the old woman and drew his shoulders back. "Alright. We're ready for your test."
Yu-Baaba nodded. "Alright. I've got your contracts right here," she stated, holding up the two scrolls. "If you pass my test, I'll tear them up, and you'll be free to go." She turned to the line of pigs she'd been pacing in front of. "This way. This will only take a minute," she added to her son sweetly.
Jounouchi rolled his eyes in slight disgust, but he had to admit that he was a little jealous of how much she loved her son. Yuugi flashed the giant baby a smile. "Don't worry. We'll be fine."
Stopping in front of the row of pigs, the two boys couldn't help but blink, until the bath crone began to explain the test. "See if you can tell which of these pigs are your mother and grandfather." The pigs began to squeal and grunt as they pressed forward. "You only get one try, so choose carefully," she added. "If you get it right, you can all go home."
Jounouchi blanched. He hadn't taken a very good look at his best friend's family in their swinish bodies; he'd been too ashamed, knowing that it was his fault they were like that to begin with. He wasn't going to pass this test. He was going to be the reason they were trapped here, the reason that Yuugi's mother and grandfather would be trapped as pigs and the reason that they'd be bound to servitude—
He squeaked as he felt a hand gently grasping his and looked down, brows furrowing together when he found the smaller boy smiling at him bravely. "Yuugi-?"
"It's okay. I know what my mom and grandpa look like," he assured, wishing that some of his confidence would rub off on the blond. He was good at guessing games, and he knew he could do this.
He examined all of the pigs thoroughly, but something always seemed off. Their bangs weren't as spiky as his grandpa's, or their faces weren't as rounded as his mother's, or they were too big or too small. He looked the line over again and again, but eventually, he turned to the witch and frowned. "There must be some sort of a mistake. I don't see my mom or grandpa here."
Yu-Baaba's eyes narrowed slyly. "None of them look like your family? Are you sure?"
Yuugi flinched as Jounouchi tightened his grasp on his hand, but nodded resolutely. "Yes, I'm sure."
As soon as he'd said it, the two contracts in her hand exploded into confetti. Jounouchi yelped as he felt a rush of wind past his head and reached up in confusion. When he felt skin instead of fur beneath his fingers, however, he squealed in excitement and turned to look behind him. No tail! It had worked! They were going home! He turned to smile at his friend and couldn't help a laugh of pure joy.
They were immediately tackled by someone wearing pink, and as she gave them noogies, they realized it was Mai. "And here I thought you guys were hopeless!" she teased, standing straight. "I know you guys have to go, but don't forget about me, okay? Because it's sure as hell going to be impossible for me to forget you!"
The two humans laughed, but then Jounouchi remembered the leftover tickets and the bag of gold in his pocket. He pulled them out and placed them in her hands, smiling. "I don't know if that's going to be enough money for you, but at least you've got tickets to take you, Otogi, and Honda somewhere."
As she gaped at him, Yuugi pointed back at Seto, who was waving for them to hurry up. They managed one last smile at the blonde spirit before running back across the bridge, leaving the stunned woman and the cheering crowd behind them.
Seto couldn't help a smile as the two humans ran up to him, looking so happy they just might burst, then turned and quickly began leading them back to the river. "Come on; let's get you home."
"—Hey! If none of those pigs were my mom and grandpa, where are they?" Yuugi asked in confusion, but followed him nonetheless.
"When you passed the test, they woke up on the human side of the river. They're looking for you now. Let's not keep them waiting." He glanced up as Atemu, still in his phoenix form, as he swooped over them and screeched before disappearing in a burst of flames. "Atemu says goodbye."
Yuugi smiled. "Oh! Thank him for us the next time you see him, please! He was nice!"
"Right," Seto muttered."
The two humans paused as they came to the stone stairs that had led to the river when they'd been trapped there, looking around in surprise. Yuugi took a few steps to the edge. "The water's gone." He turned to look back up at Jounouchi and smiled. "We can walk across!"
Jounouchi grinned. "Great!" He began forward to walk down the stairs, but a strong hand gently grasping his own pulled him back, making him turn in surprise. "Huh-?"
"This is as far as I can go," Seto explained, unable to hide the sadness he felt completely; the two humans had been interesting, and their compassion and care for him had been… nice. "All you have to do is go back the way you came. You just have to promise one thing."
The two humans blinked, and the smaller boy forced himself not to tease the blond for blushing or grasping the dragon's hand tighter. "What?"
"You have to promise not to look back. Not until you make it all the way through the tunnel back into your world, or you'll be stuck here forever, and nothing will be able to get you back to your home." He paused, then lifted his other hand to stroke the blond's cheek. "I wouldn't want that to happen to you after all you've been through."
"Uh—what about you? Why can't you come further with us?" Jounouchi asked, trying to ignore the heat he felt rushing to his cheeks.
Seto smirked. "I'm still under contract with Yu-Baaba. However, now that that slug that she'd put in me is gone, I'll be able to renegotiate it with her—perhaps even break it completely. I have no interest in being her apprentice any longer." He peered around the blond at the smaller boy and dipped his head in a bow. "I was told I have you to thank for that, Yuugi."
"Well, I wasn't—that is, I—the medicine I was given— …Yeah. You're welcome." Yuugi smiled awkwardly.
"I'm fine, Jounouchi. I've got my name back. Thank you for worrying, but—"
"Will we meet again?" Jounouchi asked quickly, frowning.
Seto paused, tilting his head thoughtfully. After a moment, though, he nodded. "We've already met once, which never should have happened, and we were brought back together again this time against all odds. I'm sure the fates have something planned for us." He lifted his hand to cup the blond's cheek. "We'll see each other again, Jounouchi. Don't worry."
"…'kay. I believe you." Jounouchi stepped toward him and pressed a kiss on his cheek. "Good luck with your brother. Hope he likes you even when you're a jerk!" he added playfully.
Seeing that the brunet had been annoyed by the blond's teasing, the smaller human grabbed his friend's other hand to drag him away. "Come on, Jounouchi! I wanna see Mom and Grandpa!"
"Huh? I'm coming!"
Despite being irked, Seto tried to hold onto the blond's hand as long as he could, but eventually, the smaller, thinner fingers slid from his own. He watched the two teens run across the rolling grasses until they got out of sight, half hoping that they'd look back, since he didn't know when he'd see them again. Eventually, though, they were out of sight.
He sighed, frowning, then lifted his hand to touch his cheek. "…True love," he murmured thoughtfully, remembering what Kamajii had told him. "…Hmm. I hope we see each other again, too."
.-.-.-.-.-.
"I can't believe how dusty this car is!"
"Is this someone's idea of a joke?"
Jounouchi clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back on his heels as the two adults examined their car, then turned his gaze on his friend and smiled. "Despite all the stress, that was sort of fun, don't you think?"
Yuugi blinked, then scowled in disbelief. "Jounouchi-kun, really?"
"Well, some of the stuff was pretty cool," the blond argued, frowning. "And Mai was nice—and Kawa no Kami was pretty cool. Kaonashi wasn't bad, either, and Boh was cool after he was turned into a mouse."
The smaller boy paused, then smiled coyly. "Not to mention Seto-san. He was pretty handsome."
"Yeah, I gu—Wha-?"
"You kissed his cheek, Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi replied, walking toward the car. "You can't really deny it anymore."
Jounouchi stomped his foot angrily. "Yes I can!"
"…And you're still wearing his scale on that hideous necklace around your neck."
"Shut up you're the one that made it jeeze!" the blond exclaimed, stomping toward the car as well.
Yuugi laughed as they got into the car, settling himself back into the spot that he'd been sitting in before. Seeing a bag of chips, he opened it, examined it for ants or anything else, then took one and ate it. "Hmm. Stale."
The taller boy shoved his hand into the bag. "Don't care. Hungry."
"Riiight…" He pulled out a fresh bag of Pocky and opened it as his grandfather turned the car around.
Ashita glanced into the rearview mirror and raised an eyebrow, then turned, smiling. "Jounouchi, you're eating!"
The blond blinked, startled. "Um… I have been for a while."
"…Of course you have," she deadpanned, then rolled her eyes.
Jounouchi stared at the back of her head, baffled, but then he remembered that she had been a pig for the time they'd been in the spirit world and couldn't remember that he'd been eating since he'd started working in the bathhouse, because he'd been quite ravenous after all of their hard work of cleaning.
…Wait, time had passed in both worlds, so that was why the car had been dusty, and why the chips were stale, and someone must have reported them missing and—
Yuugi yelped as the taller boy clamped down on his arm. "Ow! Jounouchi-kun, what—"
"Anzu is going to kill us," Jounouchi squeaked, then sank in his seat. "Kill us dead!"
