Okay, everyone here should know, before they read, that I wrote and re-wrote this chapter so many times that I no longer know what the original version looks like anymore. Oh, I'm so getting flamed... Anyway, I do not own Yugioh, The Avengers, or Call me maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen, enjoy! [YUGI, YAMI, and ATEM]
Chapter 21
Yugi woke up the next morning sore and exhausted. He couldn't move and had to be spoon fed, much to Yami's amusement, his breakfast. Yugi was scowling at him the entire time. He was supposed to be able to go to school again today, but since he was unable to move, that plan was negated.
It would be a week, a very long week before he was able to limp his way out of bed and to school. His homework had piled up in that time, and he now had a mountain of work to do for his lengthy absence. It didn't help that his mates had stopped going in the past three days, which meant he had to revisit his classes to get all his work.
Doing all his homework at home was starting to make him become stressed and quickly. He became agitated easily, which made him lash out at his mates every time they suggested he take a break. This in turn made them upset and lash back at him. Finally seemingly fed up with it, and his constant studying, they grabbed him by his upper arms and carried him out of the room saying that they were going on a date.
"We can go on a date after I finish the mountain of homework I have to do." Yugi yelled as Atem drove down the highway.
"You can do it later; it will still be there when you get home." He hissed back.
"When we get wherever we're going I'm getting out, hailing a taxi, and going back home. I would like to finish my workload before next year arrives." Yugi said in a grouchy voice.
"You're going to have to get past us first." Yami said calmly placing his head on the window.
"We're here." Atem said pulling into a parking spot and turning off the truck.
"Come on." Yami said pulling him from the truck.
"This could be considered a form of kidnapping you know." Yugi said as he struggled against Yami's tight grip on his arm.
"Good, then you should be used to it." Atem said holding open the door.
"Let me go!" Yugi growled at them.
"No. Table for three please." Yami responded swiftly.
"Uh…okay." The host said at the three different glares he was receiving. He grabbed some menus and motioned them into the dining area where he placed them in the middle of the room. Atem and Yami forced Yugi into a chair before sitting down themselves.
"Hello, my name is Candy and I'll be your server tonight, what can I get you sweethearts to drink?" the waitress asked in a bubbly voice.
"The sweetest vampire wine you have." Atem said glancing up at her over his menu and Yami nodded in ascent.
"Alright you, and for you cutie?" she asked turning to Yugi.
"Sprite and lamb, cooked please." Yugi said giving her an award winning smile after just glancing at the menu.
"Alright, I'll get that in right away." She said in a surprised tone smiling in an unsure way back. As soon as she was gone, Yugi turned on his mates.
"I don't think you understand that my grades have dropped, a lot." Yugi said.
"So?" Atem asked looking at him over the top of his menu.
"So? If my grades aren't at the top of the lists, then I won't get into the best College I can." Yugi explained stressing his words to get them through to his mates.
"Like that matters. You don't need to worry about College, Yugi. We've got your whole life planned out for you." Atem said going back to his menu and turning a page. Yugi frowned and blinked a couple of times. His mind was trying to process what he just heard, slowly, but surely he must have misheard, he had to of.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I think I misheard you." Yugi said laughing nervously, his head tilted to the side.
"I said you didn't need to go to College, we have your whole life planned out for you." Atem said glancing at him over his menu, and then looking away again. Yugi blinked a couple of more times before putting up a fragile barrier around his mind.
"Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom. Human needs you know, unavoidable." Yugi said getting up slowly just as Candy came back with their drinks. The human needs part was more for her than it was his mates. He walked back towards the front of the restaurant in a sort of trance. He stopped and looked up to his at the restroom sign, before heading in the opposite direction towards the front doors.
Not go to College? He wondered what his Grandpa would think of that when he told him tomorrow. He walked down the front steps and saw at least a dozen taxis all making their way in both directions. Putting two fingers in his thumb and middle finger in his mouth, Yugi gave of a very high pitched whistle that had at least six of them slamming on their breaks. Yugi headed down to the nearest one and climbed in.
"To the Stone Palace please. I'll pay you once we get there." Yugi said as he glanced in the cab drivers rearview mirror to see Atem burst out of the restaurant looking up and down the street for him. Yugi rolled his window down and stuck his hand out of it. Letting his barrier drop, he gave Atem a single word goodbye.
Peace!
YUGI! GET BACK HERE!
He paid him no heed as he rolled the window back up, and put his hands behind his head, leaning back against the seat. Oh, he was going to be in so much trouble for this, but what Atem had said really upset him. Not go to College? He'd been looking forward to that experience for his entire life. He wasn't going to give it up just because they had a different life planned out for him. So why was he going back to the Stone Palace?
"Hey, instead will you go to the Kame Game Shop on Cherry Grove and Swan Kindness?" Yugi asked leaning forward.
"Uh, sure kid, no problem." He said getting into the left hand lane so he could get off the highway. Yugi sighed looking out the window at the full moon. That meant Ryou was home tonight, in his own bed. He never stayed around for the full moon, too dangerous.
Yugi wondered briefly if what he was doing wasn't dangerous too. His mates were going to be so worried. Maybe he should just go home. He still had all the homework to do, and he knew none of it was at his Grandpa's place, but he also knew the old man would talk some sense into them. When they came to collect him. Then again, they wouldn't know where he was, he left no trail.
"Uh, I changed my mind again, go to the Stone Palace." Yugi said biting his knuckle.
"Of course sir." He said heading past the game shop and towards the Stone Palace. He stopped outside the front doors and Yugi climbed out saying he'd be right back with the money, he just had to grab it. He went upstairs and pulled back some wall paper in his closet and took a good chunk of money out of his savings box. He then collected his homework, stuffing it in his bag along with a pair of pajamas, and made his way back to the front doors. He paid the cab fare and waited until he was gone before walking to his Grandpa's.
There, now they had a trail to follow he thought as he made his way up the steps and into the house part of the shop. He gave his Grandpa a brief greeting, and informed him that the four of them needed to talk when his mates showed up. He'd be upstairs doing homework until they got here. He ended up falling asleep at his desk, his mates never showing up.
[Time skip]
A week, it had been a week since he'd seen them. At school, at home, anywhere. Getting fed up, Yugi faked sick and went in search of them. He found them having a meeting, a private meeting, as Seth told him. He scoffed and opened the door slightly, making his presence known before heading back up to their rooms. The room he hadn't slept in for a week. That's right; he'd been sleeping at his Grandpa's.
He lay down on the bed, and waited for them to get done with their meeting so they could talk and get this fight over with. He didn't have to wait as long as he thought he would have to. Either the meeting was short or they had called for a break.
"Look who finally came home." Atem sneered.
"Done avoiding us now?" Yami asked arms crossed.
"I…I suppose that's true enough on both of our accounts. We've both been avoiding the other in some way." Yugi was about to defend himself before figuring it really wasn't worth it and half conceding to his accusation.
"What do you want?" Atem asked ignoring the accusation that they were avoiding him too.
"We need to talk about his College thing. I want to be a Math teacher. For that I need a teacher's license and a College education. Whether you like it or not I am going to be going to College. There's little you can do to change mind on this subject, let alone stop me from going." Yugi explained in a stressed voice.
"Do what you want. We have a meeting to get back to. Besides it's not like you really need our permission to do anything these days is it?" Atem asked turning swiftly on his heel and leaving, Yami right behind him. Yugi jumped off the bed, ran down the stairs, and skidded into the hallway.
"No! But I would like your support! That would be very nice!" Yugi screamed at their backs making several vampires in the hallway stop and look at him. Yet, the eyes he wanted to see the most didn't even spare him a glance. Yugi let out a sort of choked breath of air before taking shaky steps back up the stairs. He flopped face down on the bed, and Koneko jumped up onto the bed and sat down on Atem's pillow.
Was it really too much to ask for their support? They hadn't even asked him if he had wanted to go to College before they started to make other plans. But why did that bother him so much? Why did it feel like his heart was being ripped into two right now? He didn't understand it, why did it bother him they had just walked away without even glancing back at him. Like, he wasn't worth their time anymore. A few tears slipped down his cheeks and he harshly wiped them away, only to be quickly replaced with more. Why was he crying?
Unable to stop the tears he just let them flow, letting breath racking sobs out into his pillow. He felt Koneko rub her head against his, but he didn't give her any attention. He was so confused right now that it was physically hurting him. He hadn't even been aware that he had cried himself to sleep, until he awoke to quiet hushed voices.
"Clearly upset…not careful…all human…then what?" Yami's words were fading in and out of his ears but it wasn't that hard to fill in the blanks.
"I don't…never asked him…just assumed…one our many flaws." Atem's voice was the same way fading in and out. Yugi blinked is eyes open to see them pacing back and forth in front of him. The sky was dark, but it had only been morning when they were last open. How long had been asleep? Yami's eyes connected with his.
"We woke him." he said quietly nodding at Yugi. Atem stiffened and whipped around. Yugi sat up looking away and down at the comforter.
"I-I'll go." Yugi said gulping and standing up. He made to move past them, he figured he'd overstayed his welcome anyway. He'd leave Koneko, all of her stuff was here anyway.
"Why?" Yami asked.
"I left my homework at Grandpa's. N-need to finish it." He mumbled looking at the ground but not moving from his spot.
"Yugi, it's three am. Just stay." Atem said reaching out and cupping his cheek gently. Yugi turned away from the embrace. He wasn't sure why, it was what he wanted, but for some reason, that single touch made his heart hurt more than his words did.
"Um, okay." Yugi said climbing back into bed, and slipping under the covers, his back facing them. He felt the covers lift up behind him.
"Yami, no. Come on." Atem said gently.
"But." Yami protested.
"Come on." Atem said and the comforter fell down as Yami released it. Their door shut quietly as he heard Yami sniff, and felt his hurt through the link. Yugi put up a block, not against it but to hide his own hurt as he slipped back out of the bed, and quietly opened the door to the stairway.
He tiptoed down the stairs, and quietly made his way towards the front doors. There were much more vampires roaming the halls of the Palace now then there were during the day. They all ignored him though as he made his way to the front doors and pushed them open.
"You know, Yami's going to be crushed if he doesn't find you sleeping there tomorrow morning." Atem said quietly from behind him.
"I-I can't stay." Yugi choked out as his tears started anew.
"Why not?" Atem asked.
"It hurts too much. To be so close and yet feel miles away." Yugi cried out. Atem was kneeling in front of him, drawing him into his arms before Yugi even knew he was there.
"I'm sorry, Yugi. If you want to go to College of course you can go. Just promise me it won't be an all human one?" Atem said and asked quietly into his ear. It wasn't right though, this apology, it didn't seem real. It felt more like he was trying to appease…Yami. He placed his hands flat against his chest and pushed him away, much to Atem's surprise.
"No! No! No!" Yugi yelled at him before running off, or trying to. Atem had him in his arms before he got three feet. He struggled in his grip, twisting every which way trying to get loose. Atem set him on his feet, but held on tightly to his wrist. Putting enough pressure on it to leave a bruise, but not break it.
"Yugi, stop this! Why are acting like this!?" Atem yelled at him.
"You're just saying things, but you don't mean them! You're not sorry! You're only sorry when I get hurt!" Yugi yelled back kicking Atem in the shin and running off. Atem let him, even though it probably only felt like a glancing blow to him, Atem let him run.
[Time skip]
They weren't in school the next day or week, and Sakura was trying to fill his heads with 'I told you so' every chance she got. His friends took him costume shopping trying to cheer him up. It didn't work like they thought it would. He'd been crying himself to sleep every night, and he was starting to lose weight. He knew his friends noticed, he knew they were worried. Every time they tried to bring it up though, he just got this glazed over look in his eyes and they dropped the subject and changed it.
He needed to see them, even if it was only for a few seconds. Maybe if he apologized for kicking Atem in the shin, everything would be forgiven? Oh, who was he kidding, nothing would be smoothed over that easily. But just a few seconds, maybe he could watch them and they wouldn't notice; especially if he kept himself downwind.
Yugi went home, packed his backpack and headed back, much to Sakura's distress. He ignored her though and headed for the Stone Palace. Just a few seconds, that was all he needed only a few seconds. He never expected to run into them.
Yugi stood frozen in the garden. They seemed just as shocked to see him, as he was to see them. He looked away first as a heavy stale air of awkwardness settled over the three of them. He opened his mouth several times to say something only to close it again, as he had nothing to say, so he turned to leave instead.
"No, wait!" Yami said and Yugi heard movement so he must have stood up.
"I…I just wanted to apologize for k-kicking you in the shin, Atem." Yugi said quietly knowing his words could be heard by the vampire as the wind was shifting that way. He could only imagine how good he must have smelt to the two, as they hadn't eaten in two weeks. He was a horrible food source.
"Um, I know its Friday, but um, are you hungry?" Yugi asked looking down at the ground.
"You come bearing food?" Atem asked him with humor in his voice.
"I, um, yeah." Yugi said lamely.
"Come on, we'll do this in private." Yami said taking his backpack off his back and gently grasping his hand.
"Just don't take too much." Yugi whispered looking at the ground as Yami led him away.
"Mmm, we won't. We've been drinking bagged blood, cold." Atem said apparently tired with the slow pace because he picked up Yugi, and whisked him up to the bedroom. He laid him down on the bed and bit into him.
"Um, when are your birthdays?" Yugi asked.
"Why?" Yami asked.
"Just curious." Yugi said.
"Don't worry about it Yugi, we hardly celebrate the year anymore." Atem said pulling away from him and licking up the access blood around his lips. That was weird; Atem was usually such a clean drinker.
"But I still want to know." Yugi said as Yami leaned down to drink from him.
Okay, but do you need to know?
"No, not really." Yugi said sending them a mental picture of him shrugging.
"Yugi, we need to talk about this College thing." Atem said sternly as Yami pulled out and sealed him up.
"Uh, this was a bad idea. I don't want to…" Yugi trailed off trying to sit up only for a hand to push him back down.
"If going to College is so important to you, go. We'll have all the time in the world for our plans. Go, if that's what you want, then just go." Yami said calmly.
"Alright, I'll go." Yugi said nodding and sitting up. Atem pushed him back down and climbed on top of him.
"College, Yugi. If you want to go to College then just go. But please, just stay one night here, please?" Atem corrected and then asked.
"Have you lost weight?" Yami asked before Yugi could respond.
"No, you must be imagining things." Yugi said immediately. If they knew that he wasn't taking care of himself, he would be in trouble.
"Are you sure, you look skinnier." Atem said wrapping his fingers around Yugi's wrist and frowning at them.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Yugi said nodding and looking away.
"You're definitely staying here tonight." Yami said like that settled it.
"I still think it's a bad idea." Yugi mumbled as Atem clambered off of him.
"What's got you so knotted up inside that you can't even spend one night with us?" Yami asked wrapping his arms loosely around him.
"I-I just…" he trailed off again as he had nothing to say.
"Do we need to talk about your feelings again, Yugi?" Atem asked. Yugi put them in a bottle, and closed the top with a cork and sealed it with wax, or at least he did in his mind's eye.
"Can you reach them, Atem?" Yugi asked him.
"How are you doing that?" Atem asked frowning.
"Very carefully." Yugi responded.
"Well stop it. It's not healthy to bottle them up like that. We need to talk about them, Yugi." Atem said rubbing his thumb along his cheek bone. It felt so good, and yet, at the same time so…foreign.
"No, I-I can't!" Yugi said jumping off the bed and heading for the door. Atem caught his wrist, and threw him to Yami who caught him flawlessly, and pinned him to the bed.
"Shhh, how about we make a deal?" Yami suggested lacing his fingers with Yugi's.
"Uh, what kind?" Yugi asked nervously.
"If you stay the weekend, we'll go to school with you." Yami said. Oh, that was tempting, so tempting. Yugi nodded slowly.
"Good, you won't regret staying, Yugi, I promise." Yami whispered in his ear.
But it was. By the time Sunday came around, he found himself in tears again, for the fifth time that weekend. The fifth time.
"MY FRIENDS! And no, you can't come! It's just gonna be me and the guys!" Yugi screamed before leaving the tower and heading back to his Grandpa's backpack in hand.
He was talking about Sakura's party of course. But he was pretty sure his sister wouldn't want them there. So he made up the natural excuse, I'm going out with friends.
"That's it? You yell and then leave?" Atem asked seeming unable to drop it.
"I'll meet up with you guys later, okay?" Yugi threw over his shoulder.
"Fine, but you're only 12 hours away, Yugi, are you really going to throw all that away?" Atem asked grasping his elbow.
"I…no." Yugi sniffed.
"Come on." Atem said pulling him back upstairs, where he tucked him into bed, and told him to go to sleep. He didn't join him though, they never did anymore, not even Friday night, they just let him sleep alone. That hurt, more than he was willing to bear so he just put it in his metaphorical bottle and locked it away. He was losing it slowly, he was.
True to their word, they went to school with him, but when they came home he felt so alone, so miserable in their company, or lack thereof. He started to think horrible thoughts in his loneliness. He needed to tell them, he just needed to say something, before this escalated out of control. Plucking up some courage, he walked to their door and opened it, and then closed it again. Shaking his head he opened it again and stood in the doorway.
"Yes, Yugi?" Atem asked looking up from something in his hand.
"I…I…I…I…" he couldn't do this. He couldn't get it out.
"You're what, Yugi? Spit it out." Atem said.
"Atem!" Yami said smacking him upside the head.
"What?" Atem asked rubbing his head.
"I'm going home." He choked out before turning and shutting the door. He was such a coward he couldn't tell them that he wasn't happy. A thought they didn't hear, because he had what felt like a permanent barrier around his mind. The door opened behind him.
"Yugi, come on, be reasonable. You've been here for what, five days, and in that time you've pulled away from us more than ever. If you really want to go home, then fine, we'll take you home, but tomorrow. Just…just stay the night." Atem said in a stressed voice.
"Just the one?" Yugi asked.
"Just one." Atem confirmed.
"O-okay, I have some homework I need to do anyway." Yugi said sitting down at his desk.
"Alright." Atem said going back into his and Yami's room, but didn't shut the door.
[Time skip]
One night ended up turning into two weeks. Two weeks that they fought so much Isis threatened to separate them if they didn't stop. Yami cried a couple of times, Yugi cried himself to sleep most nights, and Atem showed his frustrations with the scenario by yelling at them both.
Right now he was sitting on his bed making final touches on Sakura's birthday party plans. It had been hell keeping it a secret from his mates. He could only imagine their anger when they found out what he'd really been up to. He couldn't believe it was already October 29th, and her birthday was tomorrow. Thinking of hers made him think of two other birthdays that he was still trying to figure out, and not just because they were avoiding the topic of conversation. It was just that between keeping his plans for Sakura a secret as well as keeping their Halloween costumes a secret from Sakura, Yugi's stress levels had reached their peak, he was surprised he wasn't sick yet.
See here was the problem; Sakura's birthday was on the 30th of October, while Halloween was the day after. She had always chosen their costumes for them when they were younger, but now with them being older, they didn't go for that anymore. Yugi had breached the topic of it earlier in the month with her as a 'hypothetical situation' of what she would do if they were dressed up as parodies to her profession. She had bluntly told him, in not so many words, that she would rip those costumes to shreds if she saw them lying around. He hadn't brought up the subject again, and they had hid the costumes at Malik's apartment that he shared with his sister Ishizu.
Thinking about that made him laugh, even if it was a little sad. He'd do it; he'd tell them he wasn't happy. He'd tried another time since the first attempt, but it had ended up blowing up in his face. If it didn't work this time, he was moving out, and he wasn't going to come back this time. Taking a deep breath, Yugi stood up and headed for the tower to tell them. He walked up the steps and walked over to stand beside them. He opened his mouth to tell them and instead this came out.
"So, about January, can we by any chance talk about it?"
[Time skip]
"I'm coming! I'm coming! Geez, so many impatient people tonight." Malik complained as he yanked open the door.
"Can I come in? Thanks." Yugi said pushing his way in without waiting for an answer.
"Sure! Why not? We'll just throw an unexpected slumber party at my house, because Jou and Ryou are here too. So, what's your problem?" Malik said nodding and shutting the door before facing the small living room where his three friends were.
"You really wanna know?" Yugi asked.
"Yes, I do want to know why you're banging on my door a ten o'clock at night." Malik said sitting back down in his chair.
"All I did was try to…breach the subject of January. And what do they do? They change the subject." Yugi said jumping right into his tirade without hesitation.
"So, about January, can we by any chance talk about it?" Yugi asked.
"Oh look Yugi, the moon's light looks so pretty shining on the ocean tonight. Of course it dulls in comparison to you, but I still think it looks pretty." Atem said immediately changing the subject.
"Huh?" he asked confused as to what the moon had to do with his question.
"I agree, it does look magnificent." Yami added wrapping his arms around Yugi. Yugi's hands curled into fists as what they were doing finally caught up to him. Not only were they avoiding his question, they changed the subject in such a lame way Yugi couldn't even give them points for trying.
"Fine, avoid the subject, but I'm going to keep bringing it up until you want to talk to about it." Yugi said pushing Yami away and starting his descent down the stairs back to their room.
"Well, that's never going to happen." Atem said behind him making him freeze.
"Excuse me?" Yugi asked looking back at him.
"I said that's never going happen." Atem repeated.
"Fine! Then you guys can sleep by yourselves tonight, because you're most certainly not welcome in my bed." Yugi snarled.
"Like you can stop us from climbing in with you after you're asleep." Yami sneered.
"You want to play dirty, then so can I." Yugi said back quietly walking down the steps. He went into his room packed a bag and left. He started to run as soon as he made it into the garden and he continued to run all the way to Malik's house.
"And that's why I'm here." Yugi said finishing his monologue.
"So every one of you is crashing here because you had a fight with your lovers? Yippee for me." Malik said with such a lack of enthusiasm it was almost sarcasm.
"At least we have Sakura's party to look forward to tomorrow." Ryou sighed.
"Then Halloween after that." Jou said.
"So what are you going to do Yugi? Cause Halloween and drinking, same day." Malik pointed out.
"Don't know, don't care." Yugi said picking at his nails.
"Really?" Malik asked as his phone buzzed.
"I'm pissed at them, so I don't care about their well beings right now." Yugi responded as he took out his phone.
"Have I seen Yugi? Nope." Malik read aloud and texted back.
"Cool." Malik said pocketing his phone.
"So what happened with you guys?" Yugi asked his other two friends.
"Eh, Seth and Seto were fighting so I just got up and left. That was two hours ago, and the fight must still be going on because I haven't received any texts asking where I am." Jou responded in a bored tone.
"But they were doing so well." Yugi said in disbelief.
"Yeah, that was before I woke up this morning to Seth having a death grip around my waist that Seto wasn't too fond of." Jou replied shrugging.
"Well that sucks." Yugi said frowning.
"Well, at least I had three weeks of peace." Jou said looking at the bright side of it.
"And you?" Yugi asked looking at Ryou.
"Bakura was very moody tonight, and Akeifa kept telling me it was because he was pregnant. Pregnancy and moody I can understand and take, swiping at me because I made one little comment on it I can't. So I got up and left with Akeifa shouting after me that he was sorry." Ryou said angrily.
"What was the comment?" Yugi asked.
"All I said was that he was being a moody wolfy and he swiped at me. I barely dodged the attack to my beautiful face." Ryou grumbled.
"You shouldn't antagonize a pregnant wolf, Ryou." Yugi said shaking his head.
"I know, but I didn't think he'd hear me." Ryou said back. Everyone burst out laughing, as the door opened to reveal Ishizu. Ishizu had greenish blue eyes, tan skin, black hair and a petite frame.
"Oh, we have guests. Why wasn't I informed that we were having guests tonight?" Ishizu asked.
"Because they didn't tell me they were coming over, they just came over." Malik responded shrugging.
"Oh I see, well, don't stay up too late and goodnight." Ishizu said making her way to her bedroom.
"Wait! How was work sister?" Malik shouted after her.
"Oh, it was a nightmare. Three groups of elementary kids back to back to back were visiting the museum on field trips. Between telling them constantly not to touch exhibits, and trying not to yell at them when they completely ignored me, I'm exhausted. Goodnight." She said turning to them and telling them of her day before opening her bedroom door and disappearing inside.
"Poor Ishizu." Ryou said shaking his head.
"You guys want to watch a movie and then head to bed?" Malik asked picking up the remote.
"Sure." They said.
Malik flicked on the TV and after surfing the channels for a bit settled on Avengers. They ended up falling asleep where they were in the living room. Malik in his chair, Yugi on the floor, and Ryou sprawled across Jou's lap as they were both sitting on the couch. Ishizu sighed at them when she got up at one to see why they were still up. She threw blankets over them, turned off the lights and TV before heading to bed herself to get a semi decent night's sleep.
[Time skip]
Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe!
It's hard to look right
At you baby,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe!
Yugi fumbled for his phone with his eyes closed. He knew it was in his jacket, but he couldn't find his jacket anywhere. As he continued to listen to the low music of Call me maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen, he came to the conclusion that he was wearing his jacket. Feeling down his body, he found his pocket and opened the phone placing it on his ear and laying back down.
"Yugi?"
"Mmhmm." He responded yawning and closing his eyes.
"Where are you?" Atem asked. Yugi didn't respond as he had fallen back into a half asleep state.
"Yugi!" Atem shouted into the phone.
"Huh? What?" Yugi asked jumping slightly his eyes barely opening in confusion.
"Where are you?" Atem asked again.
"Yeah, that sounds great." Yugi mumbled. You could hear laughter in the background on the other side of the line.
"Okay, Yugi listen very closely to my words, and then repeat them back to me. Where…are…you?" Atem explained and then asked very slowly. Yugi had fallen back asleep and didn't respond.
"Yugi!" Atem, shouted.
"Huh? Who's yelling at me?" Yugi asked jerking awake.
"Where are you? Now what did I just ask?" Atem asked quickly.
"Horses have shoes." He responded back. There was roaring laughter in the background.
"It's not funny, Yami! Yugi, that is not what I asked you!" Atem screamed at two different people over the phone.
"You're right, it's hilarious!" Yami said back through his laughter.
"Who's yelling at me?" Yugi asked lifting his head slightly to look around the room.
"No one Yugi, go back to sleep." Malik muttered.
"Kay." Yugi said putting his head back down.
"Was that Malik?" Atem asked.
"No, I don't have a cowlick." Yugi said back.
"No I didn't ask if-ugh!" Atem was very obviously getting frustrated.
"Yugi, listen very carefully. Where are you? Can you please tell me that?" Atem asked very slowly.
"Ryou's cat? No, I don't think he has a cat." Yugi muttered back.
"Yugi, are you on the phone?" Malik asked.
"Yugi, that voice whose is it?" Atem asked quickly.
"I don't know." Yugi said sitting up accidentally answering them both at the same time.
"Oh I see it!" Malik said pointing to the phone that Yugi was holding to his ear.
"How can you not know?!" Atem shouted
"Where?" Yugi asked looking around him.
"I got it." Malik said grabbing the phone from his ear.
"Yugi! Is that Malik!?" Atem shouted.
"It's yelling at me." Yugi whined.
"I'll take care of it." Malik said shutting the phone.
"Oh, it stopped." Yugi said looking at the phone in Malik's hand.
"Yeah, here, now go back to sleep." Malik said handing him the phone.
"Kay." Yugi laid back down as did Malik. Not two seconds later the phone was ringing again.
Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe!
It's hard to look right
At you baby,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe!
"Lo?" Yugi asked putting the phone to his ear.
"DID YOU JUST HANG UP ON ME?" Atem screamed through the phone.
"Oh, you're screaming again. Now when you did that last time, Malik did this and you stopped." Yugi said shutting the phone but continued to talk to it.
Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe!
It's hard to look right
At you baby,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe!
"Lo?" Yugi asked putting the phone to his ear again.
"Okay, apparently screaming and yelling doesn't get any answers. So Yugi, can you look around the room and tell me who's in it with you?" Yami asked him in a calm voice that was heavy with amusement. There was a pounding sound in the background.
"Um, there's a chair, window, door, couch, and rug." Yugi responded pointing at the items as he named them off.
"Clearly this was a bad idea." Yami groaned but still amused.
"Is that Seto, Yugi?" Jou asked opening his eyes.
"It must be, they keep yelling." Yugi said handing the phone to him.
"NO! YUGI, I'M NOT SETO!" Yami screamed as he was handed over to Jou.
"Seto, it's not nice to yell." Jou scolded.
"Oh, um, Yugi, Malik, and Ryou." Jou grumbled.
"Yes, we're at Malik's." he said.
"Okay, bye." Jou said hanging up the phone.
"What did he want?" Yugi asked.
"He wanted to know where I was. 'Bout time in my opinion." Jou said letting his head flop backwards again.
"Okay, goodnight." Yugi said laying back down.
"Night, Yug'." Jou mumbled and they both fell back asleep.
[Time skip]
Yugi hurried to get the last of the decorations up. It was almost 2:30 pm, and Sakura was bound to show up any minute now. He had just set up the last bit of decoration when he heard his Grandpa and Sakura making their way up the stairs. He dove behind the couch flicking off the light in the process.
"Yeah, but I still don't see why we had to go to the museum today. I mean, don't you remember what day it is?" Sakura was complaining as she opened the door.
"October 30th." Grandpa answered.
"Uh, yeah, it is." Sakura said her voice dripping in disappointment as she turned on the light.
"SURPRISE!" everyone jumped up from their hiding spots screaming out the word.
"Oh, you guys shouldn't have! But since you have, thanks!" Sakura said with pure joy.
"Happy birthday, Onee-chan." Yugi said giving her a hug.
"Thanks, Otouto." Sakura said hugging him back.
"So, do you want to do cake or presents first?" Yugi asked stepping back.
"Cake, of course." Sakura said rolling her eyes.
"Okay, everyone to the kitchen!" Yugi said leading the way and pulling Sakura behind him.
"Geez, Yugi, one would think it's your birthday with how excited you are." Sakura teased him.
"We haven't celebrated your birthday in two years; forgive me for being little excited." Yugi said back sticking out his tongue as Rebecca and Otogi took the cake out of the fridge.
"Alright, let's create a bonfire with all these candles." Jou said as he lit the first one.
"Ha ha, I'm not that old, I'm only 25." Sakura said as she stood in front of the cake looking around the room.
"Close enough, miss quarter of a century." Jou teased. Sakura smacked him upside the back of the head as Kaiba walked into the room.
"Don't hit my boyfriend Hunter." Kaiba said placing his gift next to everyone else's.
"Oh good, everyone is here now! Everyone ready to sing?" Yugi said and asked excitedly as Sakura frowned slightly.
"Don't you mean scream?" Ryou asked. Yugi nudged him playfully.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SAKURA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!" Everyone did indeed scream to her.
"Make a wish." Grandpa said. Sakura closed her eyes before blowing out the candles in one sweep. She re-opened them to look around the room, her frown increasing as if she was counting the people off. Finally she looked at Yugi, her eyes narrowed into slits. Yugi wasn't paying attention though; he was too busy talking to Malik.
"Yugi?" Sakura called in sickly sweet voice that had him freezing and looking at her.
"What did I do?" he asked.
"Where are your mates?" she asked him smiling.
"Uh, I didn't think you would want them here, so I told them I was hanging out with the guys today." Yugi replied nervously as Sakura's eyes narrowed into slivers.
"You go upstairs right now and tell them where you are and what's really going on." Sakura said.
"I'm sorry what? I thought you would have reveled in the fact they don't know where I really am." Yugi said confusion lacing his voice.
"Under normal circumstances, yes. But we have a psycho vampire on the loose, so go." Sakura demanded.
"But!"
"Go!"
"I-!" Yugi tried to protest again but was cut off by her pointing her finger at the stairs.
"It's no wonder I stopped dating the ladies, they're so damn complicated." Yugi complained as he left the room.
"And watch that language!" Sakura shouted after him.
Yugi went upstairs to his room, and took out his cell phone. Dialing their cell number, he had stopped calling it his and started calling it theirs, he waited for someone to pick up. This wasn't going to be pretty.
"What's up, Yugi?" Yami asked.
"Uh, besides the ceiling?" Yugi asked back nervously.
"What's wrong? Why are you so nervous?" Yami asked.
"Uh, because I lied to you guys about today?" Yugi asked more than said back in a whisper.
"About what?" Atem asked. He must have taken the phone from Yami. This sucked, because Yugi would have preferred to talk to Yami about this.
"Hi Atem." Yugi said avoiding the question.
"That's too bad, about what, Yugi?" Atem said answering his thought and asking him again.
"Well, I really wouldn't say it's a full lie, it's more of a half lie." Yugi said still avoiding the topic of conversation.
"Okay, about what?" Atem said Yugi could tell his patience was wearing thin.
"Remember when I told you I was hanging with the guys today?" Yugi asked.
"How could we forget? You screamed it at us." Atem said back.
"Ah, right. Well, you see I wasn't technically lying about that. I just didn't tell you everything. Cause I am hanging out with the guys today." Yugi said his voice rising in volume slightly.
"Alright, what didn't you tell us then?" Atem asked.
"That I'm at Grandpa's celebrating Sakura's 25th?" Yugi asked.
"And why weren't we invited?" Atem asked his voice holding slight amusement.
"Because I wasn't sure if she wanted you guys to come." Yugi mumbled into the phone.
"And now she does?" Atem asked.
"Well. She didn't say she did, but she didn't say she didn't either." Yugi said back his nervousness growing.
"Alright we'll be over in twenty with an entourage." Atem said hanging up.
"Ah, wait, no I!" Yugi huffed in frustration before pocketing his phone. He walked back downstairs and was handed a piece of cake.
"How did they take it?" Sakura asked.
"A lot better than I thought." Yugi said taking a bite of his cake.
"They're coming over aren't they?" she asked.
"You're only doing this for the presents." Yugi said his eyes narrowing.
"Well, I would be lying if I said that didn't have something to do with it." Sakura said grinning.
"Shameless you are." Yugi said shaking his head.
"What's the other reason?" Malik asked.
"Well, my boss's boss wants me to get close to them, for studying purposes. He says that his boss says I should use every opportunity to do so. And that if they ever need me to hunt a vampire for them, I have permission to do so. Don't ask me why his boss wants me to do this; I haven't gotten an answer besides 'it's for the good of the Organization'." Sakura explained warily.
"Then tell him this, if they lay a single part of their anatomy on my mates for their 'studying purposes', I guarantee that they won't like the consequences if that touch is in any way harmful to them." Yugi said threateningly to her little speech. They may be fighting, but his instincts still flared up at the possibility of them getting hurt.
"I'll make sure to relay that message." Sakura said.
"In the mean time, this stays between everyone here. Until we know their intentions, nobody knows about this." Yugi said looking around the room. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Wait, does this mean that you're not going to try to break them up anymore?" Jou asked.
"Don't be a fool Jou, just because I've been given new orders doesn't mean I can ignore the old ones. Besides, they stole my baby brother from me and turned him against me, that's unacceptable." Sakura scoffed.
"Dang it." Yugi muttered in disappointment. He had been hoping for the same thing, but had been unwilling to voice it.
"Why so disappointed?" Atem asked wrapping his arms around him from behind.
"It's nothing." Yugi said shrugging out of the hold and going to stand over by his sister.
"Yugi, we actually need some help." Yami said motioning for him to come over with his finger.
"Hey Maria! Happy birthday!" Marik said coming into the house. Yugi quickly swiped his finger over Sakura's name in the cake, distorting it.
"Good cake." Yugi said nodding while licking his finger.
"Smooth move." She said back.
"Yugi, come here for a second." Yami said again. Yugi sighed and made his way over to him.
"What?" Yugi asked.
"We could use a little help." Mahad said from the stairway with Seth right behind him.
"Oh, well come on in." Yugi said before making his way back over to his sister. Or trying to.
"Yugi, can we talk?" Atem asked grabbing his wrist as he passed.
"Why? You didn't seem that angry." Yugi said frowning at the floor.
"I meant about last night." He said.
"There's nothing to talk about." Yugi said ripping his wrist out of Atem's loose grip. He went back over by his sister sitting down and playing with the cake on his plate, but not eating it.
"Atem?" Sakura called out.
"Yes?" He asked back.
"This is a happy occasion, and if you're going to disturb that happiness then you need to leave." Sakura said firmly.
"Whatever." He said going into the living room to sit down.
"And this is why I was adverse to invite them even more." Yugi grumbled pushing his cake away all together. Sakura sighed at his gloomy expression.
"Presents! It's present time! So come on everyone, into the living room!" Sakura said trying to save the mood. Yugi smiled at his sister, as he followed her into the living room. Sakura sat down on the floor as Kaiba and Jou picked up the table and moved it over by her. Flattening the legs of the table, they sat it right beside her so she had easy access to it.
"Oh wait, here." Atem said placing a gift on the table along with Marik, Mahad, and Seth. Yami came over to sit by Atem, plucking Yugi off the floor and pulling him into his lap in the process. When Yugi tried to move, Yami's arms tightened considerably around him, so Yugi gave up and just leaned back against him. Atem wrapped an arm around Yami, and grasped one of Yugi's hands. Yugi didn't even bother fighting it, he would lose anyway.
"Alright, this first gift is from Jou." Sakura said picking it up. There was some muffled laughter around the room as most of the occupants already knew what it was. Sakura paused looking at them suspiciously before shrugging it off an opening the gift. She gasped and held it up giving everyone a clear view of the back of the shirt. There was loud burst of laughter from the vampires around the room that hadn't yet seen the shirt. Frowning, Sakura turned the shirt around before glaring up at Jou. What was on the back was a stick figure creeping up on another one that was in a bed. Underneath the picture it said TRACKER. Next was the same stick figure tying the other one to the bed. Underneath the picture it said HUNTER. Last was a picture of the stick figure riding the other one. Underneath the picture it said SLAYER. Sakura threw the shirt at Jou, before lifting the tissue paper to find her real present. Sakura's real present was a $100 gift card to Black Dreams and Wicked Nightmares. That and a baby blue stone bracelet to match her eyes.
"What's the matter? You don't like the shirt?" Jou asked in a fake hurt voice.
"No, it is definitely not one of my favorites." Sakura said glowering at him.
"Fine, you leave me no choice but to save it for a Christmas present." Jou said stuffing the shirt away out of sight.
"Alright, Mahad is next." Sakura said opening the gift and gasping at it. Yugi looked over her shoulder his eyes widening. Nestled in some white velvet was a sapphire, pearl, and onyx choker. It looked like if Sakura were to put it on, it would fit snugly around the base of her throat.
"I cannot except this. The amount of money it must have cost you." Sakura said trying to hand him the gift back.
"Don't worry about it. It's something I just had lying around. I don't have a use for it and I thought it would compliment your skin tones and eyes." Mahad said waving it off.
"Yeah, but it's so…" Sakura trailed off as it seemed she couldn't find a word for what it was.
"Here, I'll even help you put it on." Mahad volunteered pushing off the wall and approaching her. He lifted her hair and tossed it to the side. Taking the choker he carefully clasped it around her neck, his fingers brushing her neck. Sakura's breath hitched so slightly, it wasn't even noticeable if you weren't watching her very closely. She reached up to touch it softly, before dropping her hand.
"Thank you." Sakura said.
"You're welcome." Mahad said smirking and making his way back over to the wall.
"Uh, next present is from Yami and Atem." Sakura said pulling the rather large package to her. She opened it and began rifling through it until she came up with a beautiful vase that had hieroglyphics painted on it.
"Uh, Grandpa? What does this say?" Sakura asked.
"It says…I hold all that I love close to me and rarely let the world disturb the peace I've created within that circle." Grandpa said taking the vase from her carefully.
"That's not nice." Yugi said whacking Atem upside the back of the head while elbowing Yami in the gut behind him.
"There's more." Yami moaned.
"Yes, underneath this first line it says…though my circle is now disturbed often, I've accommodated for the intrusion and allowed the circle to grow. While it still grows I will still hold those I love close to me and protect them." Grandpa finished.
"Are you trying to say that I should allow you into my circle of loved ones?" Sakura asked.
"That would be nice." Atem said nodding.
"Not gonna happen. Pretty vase though, I'm gonna keep it." Sakura said as she took the vase back from Grandpa.
"Glad you like the gift." Yami muttered.
"Alright, Seth's is next." Sakura said picking up the small box. Inside was a ring that according the paper had a spell on it that turned it colors when different species were near besides the one of the ring's wearer. Right now the ring was silver. After Sakura put it on the middle finger of her right hand though, it turned half red and half green.
"Cool, thanks Seth." Sakura said looking very surprised at him.
"Now you just have to figure out which colors are which." Seth said back.
"Well that won't be too hard." Sakura said shrugging and grabbing another gift.
"Okay, this one is from Kaiba." Sakura said opening it. Inside was a sword cleaning kit. Sakura squealed, and pounced on him hugging him into the floor.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you like the gift, now get off of me." Kaiba said shoving her off of him.
"Alright, next we have Ryou's, Akeifa's, and Bakura's. Speaking of, where are your werewolves?" Sakura asked looking up at Ryou.
"We had a…small disagreement last night and we all decided that we could do with some space from one another." Ryou said nervously.
"Okay, and from you guys I got a very nice winter coat." Sakura said pulling out the fur coat.
"They hunted the animals and I sowed their skins together." Ryou said fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt.
"It's very nice, thank you." Sakura said pulling the next gift to her. This one was from Malik and Ishizu.
"Alright, from Malik and Ishizu we have…jewelry!" Sakura said her voice rising in joy. The jewelry consisted of silver earrings, bracelets, rings, and necklaces. They were variety packs, so she had many choices to choose from.
"Thanks guys, and this one is from Grandpa." Sakura said pulling it to her.
"Ooo, candy and other sweets. Thank you." Sakura said grinning.
"You're welcome." Grandpa said.
"Alright next is Otogi's. And you got me an assortment of candy too." Sakura said unimpressed.
"Alright, Rebecca's is next. And you got me…a gift card to buy shoes!" Sakura squealed getting up to give her a hug.
"You're welcome." Rebecca said hugging her back.
"Alright, next is Penny's. And you gave me a gift card…to go clothes shopping! Thank you!" Sakura said giving her a hug as well.
"You're welcome." She said hugging her back.
"And last, but not least, we have Yugi's gift." Sakura said grinning and pulling it to her. Opening it, she pulled out a plum colored dress that had built in places for her katanas. The dress had a U-shaped neck that would show a portion of her cleavage when put on, and was done in a mermaid style gown. It was the same dress she had been admiring in a shop window that was $300. Sakura's jaw dropped as she looked from Yugi to the dress and back again before pulling him from Yami's arms so she could hug him.
"Oh Kami, I love you, Yugi! But how did you know I wanted this specific color?" Sakura asked pulling away.
"Now, what kind of brother would I be if I didn't know my own sister's favorite color?" Yugi asked her.
"A horrible one." Sakura said kissing his cheek.
"Ha ha, I'm glad you like the gift, Onee-chan." Yugi said smiling as she hugged him again.
"Yugi, this is $300, where did you get that kind of money?" Atem asked looking at the price tag.
"You know, now that I think about it, you don't have a job, so where are you getting all this money?" Yami asked looking down at him. Sakura raised her eyebrows at him in surprise as he hid his face in her chest.
We'll discuss this later.
Fine, but we are discussing this later.
Whatever you say, Seme. Yugi rolled his eyes as Sakura pushed him away slightly.
"You haven't told them?" she asked in whisper.
"It didn't seem all that important to share with them." Yugi whispered back.
"Oh Yugi, stuff like this is always important to share." Sakura whispered pulling him back.
"If you say so." Yugi whispered.
"I do, now go talk about it with them." Sakura said pushing him away completely.
"No." Yugi said offended that she was even suggesting it.
"Why not?" she asked.
"They have yet to answer two of my questions, so why should I answer any of theirs?!" Yugi asked vehemently before getting up and storming out.
"No, you stay here; I'll get to the bottom of this." Grandpa said before the sound of his footsteps where heard following him down into the shop. Yugi was pacing back and forth between the shelves, muttering angrily to himself.
"Yugi, what's this really about? I know for a fact that you wouldn't get upset just because they haven't answered a couple of your questions." Grandpa asked grabbing his arm and forcing him to stop pacing back and forth.
"We had another fight last night. I only asked if we could talk about January when they're leaving for two weeks. They completely blew me off; they didn't even attempt to talk about it. They changed the subject in one of the worst ways possible, that I couldn't even give them points for trying to distract me from my question. And their birthdays, no matter how many times I ask them when they are, they refuse to tell me. Whether by acting like they didn't hear me, or changing the subject, it's very frustrating, Grandpa." Yugi said breaking down in the old man's arms.
"Yugi, something else is bothering you. Out with it." Grandpa said wisely.
"I don't want them to leave in January, what if they don't come back? What if Dartz is still in the area by then, and comes after me when they're gone? What if I'm not here when they come back?" Yugi said dropping to his knees and crying into his hands. He felt two breezes, before familiar hands were trying to get him to drop his hands from his face.
"No! I told you boys that I would handle this, now get!" Grandpa said angrily. Atem and Yami were gone, their hands having left him reluctantly.
"Yugi, you are staying here with your sister and I. You know as well as I do that if Dartz gets within five miles of this place his head will be mounted on our wall as a trophy." Grandpa said lifting his head out of his hands.
"But she can't be with me 24/7." Yugi argued.
"During those hours Dartz will have to get through your werewolf friends." Grandpa reasoned.
"What if he does? What if he gets through?" Yugi asked his voice rising with frantic worry. Grandpa sighed he didn't have an answer to that.
"Maybe I should have let your mates stay after all. But there's something else, something you're not telling me, or anyone for that matter." he accused.
"It's nothing to worry about." Yugi said looking away. He knew his Grandpa was giving him a way out, a way to say it without saying it to their faces. So why didn't he take it?
"Fine, he's all yours." Grandpa muttered under his breath.
"Yugi, look at me." Atem said gripping his chin and forcing his head up.
"Why should I?" Yugi asked looking down.
"Fine, don't look at me, but you will listen." Atem said releasing his chin.
"You gonna make me?" Yugi provoked. He was pushed up against a shelf.
"Careful of the merchandise." Grandpa warned him.
"Don't test me, Yugi; I'm not in the mood." Atem said his voice taking on an angry tone.
"Ooo, what a surprise that is. You know, you don't seem to be in the mood for anything these days, talking being the first thing on that list. So again, why should I listen to you when you won't even listen to me? You didn't even bother to ask what part of January I wanted to discuss, you just assumed you knew what part it was. But I don't know why I was so shocked; assuming is one of the things you and Yami are best at." Yugi pushed back his tone matching Atem's in anger.
"Careful Yugi, you're treading on very thin ice right now. After running away last night and lying to us about this, my patience is wearing thin." Atem growled at him before a familiar sword was placed at his throat.
"Drop him." Sakura said in a cold voice.
"I don't think your helping, Maria." Grandpa said.
"Take that sword away from his throat, or I will rip out yours." Yami said placing his hand against her neck. Yugi sighed; he had to keep everyone in line it seemed.
"Yami step away from my sister, Maria drop it, and Atem let go." Yugi said shoving a shocked Atem away with his last two words.
"Yugi, why are you doing this? They're trying to communicate with you, and you just keep pushing them away. What are you bottling up? What emotion are you hiding?" Ryou asked in sad and slightly angry voice from the doorway.
"I'm not hiding anything!" Yugi said back defensively.
"You're lying!" Ryou shouted back.
"Yugi, we know you, you can't hide it from us." Jou added as he came down the stairs.
"Why do you keep fighting with them? Just tell them how you feel." Malik insisted from somewhere behind Jou.
Yugi looked at him before looking down at the ground ashamed that he hadn't been able to hide it as well as he thought he had. He sighed before walking out of the game shop, ignoring and not answering any of their questions, and down the street towards the park. That was all they seemed to be doing this month though, was fighting. Every time he turned around Atem, Yami and he were fighting about something. It usually ended with one or more of them walking away. Yugi had cried himself to sleep most nights from the hurtful words he'd either said or been told. It hadn't exactly helped that the bed had been empty those nights either. Yugi sat on a bench and dropped his head into his hands.
He was as much as a failure as a mate that he had been as a boyfriend. He just couldn't back down when he should, and he couldn't stand up when he should either. It was like his head was screwed on backward or something. Why couldn't he have just had a normal life? Why did his have to be so…complicated.
"Hey there, you smell nice." A vampire said coming to sit down beside him. Yugi looked over at him with trickles of fear starting to leak into his system.
"In fact, your scent is the exact one that my master is looking for." He continued taking a deep whiff of him. Yugi stood up and started to back away from him. The vampire mirrored every movement and kept pace with him easily.
"I wonder if he'd be angry if I took but sample of your blood?" the vampire asked reaching out to touch him. He never got the chance as Yugi kicked him in the shin with as much strength as he could muster, and turning and running. He crashed into two people, sending them all toppling to the ground.
"Well, this hunt was easy; he came running straight into our arms." A vampire said making Yugi's heart and breathing stop.
"Master will be pleased with us." The other vampire said grinning.
"Hey I found him first!" the other vampire shouted giving Yugi a single moment of distraction which he attempted to take advantage of. Jumping off of the vampires he got perhaps two running steps before his upper arm was grabbed in a vice like grip.
"Where are you going?" the second vampire asked looking down at him with a scowl.
"Please, just let me go." Yugi begged.
"Now why would we do that?" the third vampire asked.
"Because you'll be dead if you don't." Yami answered them in a calm voice.
"Oh, my Queen we found your human, and were just coming to return him to you." The first vampire lied smoothly as the second vampire released him.
"Yes, I'm sure that's what you were doing." Yami said crossing his arms his tone heavy with disbelief.
Yugi took a step towards him, before remembering that they were still fighting, so instead he turned left and started to run away back to the game shop. Yami caught him easily, and brought him back to where the vampires were that had been trying to take him away. Yugi hung lifelessly from Yami's shoulder.
"The party is over, so there is no sense in you going back there." Yami explained.
Atem, I got him.
Where are you?
Near the park.
Alright, should I meet you back at the Palace?
No, just come here, we have a little…problem.
Okay.
Atem was with them in 20 seconds. Yugi looked over at him from his position, and looked away again. Atem took in the three vampires who were shifting nervously from foot to foot.
"They claim they were returning our human to us, but I highly doubt that that was their true intentions." Yami said looking at Atem.
"Is he hurt?" Atem asked looking over at Yugi. He could feel Atem's eyes on him, but he kept his expertly turned away.
"No, not from what I can see." Yami said.
"Let this be your only warning. If you touch or even come near our human again, your lives will cease to exist. Is that understood?" Atem said in a regal voice.
"Yes, my King." They said bowing to him.
"Good you may leave now." Atem said waving them off.
"Now, what should we do with him?" Yami asked shrugging the shoulder that Yugi was placed over as soon as they were gone.
"Let him go." Atem said surprising Yugi and throwing him for a huge loop.
"I'm sorry?" Yami asked his voice sounding just as confused as Yugi felt.
"Yami, he didn't even call for us when he was in trouble. Clearly he doesn't want to be with us, so let him go." Atem said in a kind voice.
"No! He's our human, ours, Atem!" Yami complained backing away from Atem with Yugi still over his shoulder.
"Put him down, Yami." Atem said calmly.
"But I don't want to." Yami said sounding so conflicted. It made huge amounts of guilt rip through Yugi's entire being.
"Just put him down, and see what he does." Atem whispered cupping Yami's face and kissing his forehead.
"What if he runs?" Yami asked.
"Let him, it's not like we can't keep up." Atem said casually.
Yami set him on his feet. He didn't move he just stood there before sitting down on the sidewalk. He saw Yami shift slightly, before he sat down too. Yugi should have been facing him if he wasn't too busy looking at the ground.
"Talk, Atem." Yugi said shortly.
"Oh, now you want to listen? Maybe I don't want to talk now." Atem said back.
"Not my problem." Yugi said shrugging and getting up.
He started to walk away. He heard them following him as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He led them back to the Palace, where he went up to his room, and lay down on the bed. They walked past him to their own.
Yugi curled up on the bed into a fetal position. He momentarily thought about putting up a barrier between their minds, but what was the point, really? They didn't care anyway. And he could feel one around theirs, what was point of having a double barrier? They had a yelling match again, and this time left him debating whether it was worth it anymore. Whether it was worth the pain anymore. He just wasn't happy and it mattered not how many times he had tried to tell them, he found he just couldn't do it. Last night had been his final attempt to breach it casually, but that had failed, epically.
They hadn't touched him intimately in weeks either. Sure they held him occasionally, or grasped his hand, but that wasn't what he meant when he said intimately. It was starting to make him feel useless. The thought made tears spring to his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. He just wanted an end; an end to all the misery he was feeling.
Yugi looked at their closed door before walking out and up to the tower where he climbed up onto the ledge, and then onto the high part of the tower. He shoved his hands into his pockets and debated whether or not it would be a good idea to jump. He felt the barrier come down from their end, but it was too late, he'd already made his decision.
Obviously they were only going through the emotions of caring about him, but they really didn't, not anymore. No matter how many times they had told him they loved him, he still couldn't say it back and mean it. Clearly, they were tired of that; he would be too if the one he loved didn't reciprocate his feelings in return. They would probably go off in January and come back with a new human that loved them to replace him. That's probably why they didn't want to talk about it. They were plotting to replace him.
"Yugi that is a ridiculous-what are you doing?" Atem's voice erupted from behind him its angry tones replaced with fear.
"I wonder how fast you can run." Yugi said in a monotone voice looking down at the ground.
"Yugi, please don't." Atem said.
"Why not? Clearly what we have, the three of us, isn't working. So why shouldn't I jump?" Yugi asked looking down at him and taking two steps closer to the edge.
"My birthday is in March and Yami's is in December, now please just come down from there." Atem begged taking a step forward and Yugi mimicked him. Atem took a step back; but Yugi didn't mimic him this time.
"It's a little late for that. I'm the odd link in this relationship. You guys have been with each other so much longer. If I die, it's not like you'll miss me, you can just get yourself another human. Goodbye." Yugi said taking the final step off the watch tower and going over.
They say when you're dying that your life flashes before your eyes. Yugi had almost died so many times now though, that he knew that wasn't true. All he saw as the sky and the clouds as he fell. The clouds were a pretty fluffy white, the kind that you can make different things out of, if you use your imagination. The sky was a bright blue, like in the summer or spring time. It was a pretty sight to die before. Yugi closed his eyes as he waited for the impact, so the reaper could take his soul away.
Right, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Also, thanks to everyone who are/have following/favorited this story. Don't kill the author! Please review. Midnight ;p