Chapter Fourteen

Yugi froze in the door.

It was a nightmare, an actual nightmare. He was hallucinating or delirious, or maybe both.

It was the day after the tournament's conclusion, and he'd been summoned to his boss' office for what he assumed to be his final kick to the curb. She had seemed calm enough when he'd first relayed the news about Yami's forfeit, and as he had worked through the rest of the tournament on Sunday, Yugi had been thinking that maybe he'd walk away from the weekend with his career intact. That was until she had called later that night, asking him to meet her in her office at 9 am the next day.

Yugi had tossed and turned the entire night, and by the time he'd reached work, he was certain that he'd be boxing up his things as soon as the hour was up. It had been a long, silent ride in the elevator and as he'd reached his boss' office, he'd been ready to hurl. The sensation only worsened when he'd opened the door.

The room was quiet as he stood rooted in the doorway, staring at the two occupants in front of him. The office was an executive suite with enough space to fit ten with ease and a set of windows opening to the blue sky stretching overhead His boss was sitting behind her desk, dark hair pulled back from her face, brows raised as she watched him. Anzu Mazaki's posture was perfect - a longstanding habit she'd told him had come from her years of ballet training as a teenager – and she loomed over the man sitting in front of her as she waited for Yugi to enter.

"What are you waiting for?" Anzu said, waving him inside. "Come in."

But Yugi couldn't move, his eyes were frozen on the back of a familiar head of spiky hair, his stomach turning as Yami Atemu turned to face him.

Holy. Shit.

"Yugi? Anzu frowned at him. "What's wrong?"

Move! Do something! "Sorry, Mazaki-sama," he said, bowing. "Good morning." Straightening, he nodded his head at Yami. "Atemu-san." His pulse was thudding in his neck, and he forced his breath to stay even as he crossed the room, sliding into the chair beside Yami. What is he doing here?!

Anzu squinted at him, eyebrows tugged together. "You look pale," she said. "Are you feeling okay?"

Yugi was so tired of people asking him that. "Of course," he said. He wouldn't even dare to look at the duelist beside him. "I was just wondering why Atemu-san is joining us this morning."

"Kaiba Corporation is releasing a new piece of dueling technology – a portable dueling disk," Anzu said. "They want to host a joint tournament with Industrial Illusions to celebrate their breakthrough."

The blood was rushing to Yugi's head. You've got to be kidding me.

"Atemu-san will be serving as the liaison between both companies during this process," she continued. "I'll need you to work with him to put everything together. They want to execute it all in three months, which is ridiculous – " She narrowed her eyes at Yami " – but Crawford-sama has expressed that this project should take priority over everything else."

Yugi turned his head to the side, catching as a slow smirk spread across Yami's face, gaze focused ahead. Yugi turned back to Anzu, mind whirling. He and Yami Atemu would be working together for three months. Together. For three months.

"Due to the nature of the technology, and being as nothing like this has ever been planned before," Anzu continued, "the work involved will be extensive. I know Mana is one of your best so, she will be taking the lead on the Gifu tournament so that you can focus exclusively on this project."

"Where is this being held?" Yugi said. Focus. Stay focused.

"Here in Domino," Anzu said. "The duelists will need to purchase a duel disk to participate and, the first round will last a week beginning June 8. Finals will take place the weekend after that."

"A week?" Yugi said, leaning forward in his seat. "How are we going to manage coordinating so many matches – "

"There will be no scheduled matches until the second round," Yami said.

Yugi stiffened at the older boy's voice. He turned to look at him, attempting to dial back the glare that was reaching fiery proportions as he met the Yami's eyes. "Meaning random, unscheduled matches? How would we validate the authenticity of each win? How would we compensate for duelists who are minors? Do we expect them to be able to run around unsupervised? And what about – ?"

"These are all good questions," Anzu said, interrupting him, "and I am confident that you and Atemu-san will be able to work through all of them."

"Mazaki-sama – " Yugi said, stopping. What was he going to say – I can't work with him because we made out two nights ago and, he thinks he's an ancient pharaoh and, I am his soulmate? He bowed his head. "I'll start work immediately."

"Excellent!" Anzu said. "Of course I will be here for guidance, and Atemu-san will be visiting us here several times a week until the tournament date to help."

Yugi sputtered. "That's really not necessary – "

Anzu waved a hand. "You're going to need as much help as you can get," she said. "Plus, Kaiba Corp is chipping in more than half of the funds so we need to make sure that we are staying in line with their vision. Atemu-san will help with that. Having him on board will make things a lot easier."

That's debatable. Yugi nodded anyway.

"And of course, I'll need you to help steer Mana for the Gifu tournament," she said. "She knows the bases but, she will still need your guidance.

Yugi just kept nodding, half listening as the pile of his to-do list stacked higher and higher, as he attempted to swallow the realization that Yami Atemu had wriggled his way into his life once again.

Yugi tapped his pen against his desk.

Across from him, Yami was typing something on his laptop, eyes focused on the screen in front of him, the soft tap of keys following each stroke of his fingers. They'd been sitting in Yugi's office for the past three hours, trying to work through the basics of pre-planning as Yugi took a breath and resettled. It had taken a solid hour for his pulse to stop pounding with the force of his frustration and now that it had, Yugi was just confused.

No matter how hard Yugi looked, Yami didn't seem crazy. In fact, he was probably one of the most level headed people Yugi had ever met. He wouldn't waste energy pursuing something that he didn't think would pan out, which made his pursuit all the more confusing. Yugi had thrown up every road block he could think of and yet, no matter what, the older boy kept finding ways to circumvent them.

He'd done everything in his power to keep Yugi within reach, even when it meant agreeing to be friends when, based on their little roll around last weekend, his feelings obviously ran deeper. It was as if he would do anything, go anywhere, say anything to prove how committed he was to staying in his life.

Yami's eyes slid from his laptop to meet Yugi's.

"Sorry," Yugi said. He turned back to his computer, staring at the screen. Trying to focus, it took him four times of rereading the same sentence before he sighed, turning back to the older boy. "Why do you think I am this hikari person?"

Yami sat back in his chair, eyes sharp as they met Yugi's. "I knew from the moment I met you."

"How?"

"I've told you there is a connection between us," Yami said. "It has linked us together for our entire lives, lying dormant until I found you."

"But we met in January," Yugi said. "I didn't see you for more than a month later. Don't you see how I would find that kind of odd considering you're telling me you think I'm your soulmate?"

"I knew you would run if I pushed you too soon," Yami said, frowning. "It took all of my force of will to separate from you after searching for so long."

Yugi sat back in his chair, letting out a breath. "You shouldn't have kissed me."

"I had grown tired of your avoidance."

"How was I avoiding you?" Yugi said, scowling. "We had been talking for over an hour when it happened."

"At the Kyoto tournament, you asked me why I was causing trouble for you," Yami said. "I told you it was because you were nothing but polite and agreeable towards me otherwise."

"The alternative being what?" Yugi said. "Being rude and callous?"

"It's a wall," Yami continued. "You retreat behind a wall of manners in the belief that it is an exercise in professionalism but, it is simply a means to keep me at arm's length. It's what you did when I first met you, and it's what you were doing last week at the tournament."

"So, you're saying you kissed me so I would stop being polite?"

"I kissed you because being apart from you is the most difficult thing I've ever experienced," Yami said, frowning, "and I was frustrated with the wall you had erected between us."

Yugi spun a half-turn, looking to stare at the building across the way. They were both silent. "I really don't know what you want from me, Atemu-san."

Letting out a long breath, Yami shook his head. "Something you are not ready to accept."

Yugi listened to the sound of keys clicking as the older boy went back his laptop, feeling the confusing yet unmistakable feeling of guilt creeping up his throat as he turned back to his computer.

Yugi chanced a glance beside him.

The sky was alive with sunset above them, the sun low in the sky as dusk drew closer. Beside him, Yami was keeping pace, his jacket unbuttoned as they soaked in the start of spring. They had been walking for the past ten minutes, Yami headed for the train station and Yugi for his apartment, two blocks after.

Neither of them had said a word since leaving the office.

Around them, the street was snarled with traffic, but even the rumble of cars, bikes, and pedestrians did little to ease the weight of the silence hanging over them. They stopped as the light changed, people packing around them as they waited to cross.

Yugi glanced down at the ground. He wondered what his grandfather would have made of Yami's magic soulmate theory, though he had a pretty good suspicion Jii-chan would have thrown caution to the wind and jumped at the chance to hear anything and everything about the mystery of the Millennium Items. Yugi would have given anything to hear his opinion on Yami Atemu.

They continued to move forward, and Yugi jammed his hands in his pockets, siphoning the grief before it threatened to wash over him. His grandfather had been gone for three years, and it didn't do anyone any good to fixate over something that couldn't be changed.

Yugi paused as Yami wrapped his hand around his arm, stopping him from moving forward. He was about to ask him what he was doing when Yugi looked up, finding the steel overhang of the train terminal. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he'd almost barreled past.

"Sorry," Yugi said.

Yami released him, frowning. "You're upset."

"I'm fine."

The older boy let out a breath, looking at him for a long moment. "You are the most stubborn person I have ever encountered."

Yugi scoffed. "Out of the two of us, I'm the stubborn one?" He stepped out of the way as a group of teenagers shouldered past them.

"You will not speak of anything that is troubling you without being strong-armed into it," Yami said, taking his arm and leading him to a less crowded area to the side of the terminal entrance. He didn't let go as he met Yugi's gaze. "Tell me what is bothering you."

"I told you - nothing," Yugi said, exasperated. He worked his arm free of Yami's grip, stepping back before the older boy got any ideas of a repeat performance of last weekend.

"The closer we are physically, the easier it is to sense your emotions," Yami said.

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "You think you can feel what I am feeling?"

"Grief," Yami said.

How – ?

"And fear," Yami continued. "You want to trust me but, you're afraid of what you will be accepting if you do."

"You're projecting," Yugi said, swallowing back the panic rising in his throat.

"Panic."

"Stop," Yugi said, crossing his arms.

"You do not have to deal with every problem on your own."

"I know that."

"Then, tell me.'

"I just –" Yugi said, letting out a long breath. He shook his head. "I miss my grandfather sometimes."

Yami was quiet, waiting for him to continue.

"I mean, it's been a few years now since he died but, I don't know," Yugi said. "He gave me a lot of advice growing up and looking back, I wish I had appreciated it more." He shrugged his shoulders, dropping his gaze. "That's it really."

Yami stepped closer, hand rising to lift Yugi's chin, eyes finding his. "Thank you."

A blush burned its way across Yugi's cheeks. "For what?"

"Telling me."

Yugi's stomach clenched as Yami's thumb brushed his chin, touch lingering for a moment before the older boy dropped his hand back to his side.

"Goodnight, Yugi," Yami said.

"Goodnight."

Yami took a step towards the station. "I will see you on Friday."

Eyebrows tugging together, Yugi was about to ask him what he was talking about when he remembered.

For the next three months, Yami Atemu was officially his business partner.

A/N: I have a lot going on the next few days so, I can't promise an update next week (3/15-3/21). We'll see how it goes. If I can't get something up next week, then early the week after that for sure.