A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews, guys. I know you probably won't like me for the teasing taste of what's to come that you get in this chapter, hah. Enjoy!
Saturday morning was bright and hot and sunny. Yuugi stood at the window and looked down at the street below. It would be a wonderful day for the beach, he knew. The temperature was warm enough to have heated the water, which meant that swimming would be a lot of fun. At any other time he would've been really looking forward to the opportunity. They were going to have a picnic, with the food provided for them by the hotel, and he could easily imagine the fun that they were going to have. But at that moment he wasn't excited, not in the least. All he could feel was an increasing sense of dread that, truth be told, was starting to make him feel a little sick to his stomach.
The thought of what they were about to do was no longer sitting so well with him. Though he was looking forward to knowing that Vivian would be out of the picture once and for all, he didn't anticipate what they were going to do. Yuugi had never liked holding a grudge with someone, and even though it had only been a couple of days his anger towards Vivian had already begun to cool. He wasn't sure what exactly would be gained by embarrassing her in front of the crowd at the beach. For that matter, he wasn't even sure what they had planned. If it was just Atemu he would've been relatively confident in saying that Vivian would merely be getting a stern talking to, but it was Bakura and Mariku he was really worried about.
He knew that even with Ryou's and Malik's calming influence, the two of them could easily get out of control. After all, Bakura had been talking about getting rid of Vivian permanently, and he didn't mean sending her on a long trip, either. And the ironic thing was, Vivian would probably deserve whatever it was. She had broken Atemu's heart once already and Yuugi had the feeling he still didn't know the whole story about the situation. Regardless of how they might try to play it off, Bakura especially, they were all extremely loyal to Atemu and no doubt wanted to take this opportunity to make her pay. He didn't even know if Seto would have tried to rein them in for that reason. It was also why Yuugi hadn't brought this up with any of them. He had the feeling that his new reservations would not be taken lightly.
"I just hope that no one gets hurt," he muttered, pressing a hand to the cold glass.
"Don't worry, Yuugi," a voice said right behind him. Yuugi jumped and spun around to see that Malik was standing right behind him.
"Malik!" he exclaimed, clutching a hand to his chest. "Why do you always insist on sneaking up behind me? It's like you're trying to send me into an early grave, I swear."
Malik grinned. "I'm trying to keep you young," he teased, lavender eyes twinkling with mirth. "Actually, I wasn't sneaking into the room at all. I made just as much noise as I always do. But you were so preoccupied with worrying about what was going to happen today that you didn't even notice." His face took on a knowing expression that made Yuugi squirm. "And that's exactly why I came up here in the first place, because I knew you'd be driving yourself crazy worrying about what was going on. You always do that."
Yuugi pouted. "Well excuse me for worrying."
"You're excused," Malik replied cheerfully, laughing as he blocked a weak blow of retaliation. "Look, I know what you're thinking and I wanted to tell you that you should stop. You know that Vivian is an awful person, Yuugi. She deserves every single thing that's going to happen to her."
"I know. I just hate that things had to be this way," Yuugi said. He fell silent for a moment, remembering what Ryou had told them about Mai and Vivian. They'd all been surprised to hear that Ryou had had a conversation with her, especially one in which Mai had divulged a lot of interesting information about Vivian. Namely, that she had known Atemu was going to be on the show from the very beginning. Mai and Vivian had been friends since they were small, their parents being close, and Vivian had spun an intricate story about how Atemu had broken her heart after being fed a story by his jealous bodyguards. Vivian had begged her for the chance to make up and Mai had agreed, only to find out much later that actually Vivian was being anything but apologetic. She was the one who had passed along a lot of the information to Vivian. It was still up in the air over whether or not Seto was going to sue her for breaking the privacy contract.
"And you're hoping that no one goes overboard, right?" Malik said, his face softening slightly. "Okay, look, I'm hoping the same thing, personally. I've tried to discuss it with Mariku once or twice but he dodges my questions every time I ask. Even Seto won't talk about it and I got Jou to ask him." He frowned a little and then tried to smile. "But still I'm sure things will turn out okay. As long as Vivian agrees to leave Atemu alone I don't think they'll do anything too bad to her."
That would've been very reassuring were it not for the fact that Malik sounded like he was trying to convince Yuugi as well as himself. Yuugi sighed and rubbed his forehead, wincing as his shoulder throbbed. Even a handful of days hadn't been enough to assuage the pain, though admittedly as long as he didn't move too much it wasn't that bad. "Yeah, okay, you're right. I guess we should just go there and get it over with. After all, as long as the four of us are there to intervene, how bad can it be?"
"That's the spirit!" Malik went to punch him in the shoulder and then froze with his hands a few inches away. He settled for ruffling Yuugi's hair instead. "Now let's go. I think the limo is downstairs waiting for us and so are Ryou, Jou and Mai."
Yuugi screwed his face up, not liking the thought of being anywhere near Mai after the stunt she had pulled. If it hadn't been for her, Vivian wouldn't have been able to interfere nearly as much as she had. Mai had nearly ruined everything and Yuugi wasn't ready to forgive her for that. But she did have insight to Vivian that the rest of them didn't, so he supposed it was the smartest thing to do. "Alright. I packed my stuff this morning."
"Are you wearing your swimsuit?" Malik asked.
"No," Yuugi said reluctantly after a split second of hesitation. He sighed when he saw the look Malik was giving him and went into the bathroom to change. His swimming trunks were already sitting on the counter where they'd been for the past two hours. He hated the thought of changing into them. It was one thing to be mostly naked in front of Atemu when they were in the bedroom or in bed together. That was private and intimate and really completely different from being out on a public beach where Atemu could compare him to everyone else and find him lacking. Pouting the whole time, he pulled his swimming trunks on and tucked his pants into his bag.
"Yuugi!" Malik banged on the door. "Come on, we're going to be late.'
"I'm ready!" He opened the door and followed Malik across the room and out into the hall. They took the elevator down to the lobby, which was pretty empty except for a couple of clerks staring at them with open curiosity. Malik led the way outside, where Ryou, Jou and Mai were already waiting. Well, Ryou and Jou were standing together. Mai was standing a few feet away looking extremely uncomfortable. The expression on her face was almost enough to make Yuugi feel sorry for her, until he remembered what she had been doing. Then he got angry all over again. It was an odd combination that left him feeling unsettled.
"Good morning," Ryou said, pulling his sunglasses down so that he could get a good view of his two friends.
"Got your sunscreen?" Malik asked by way of answer.
Ryou made a face and reached into his bag, pulling out a bottle of the stuff. "SPF 50," he announced grimly. "It was the strongest that they had."
Yuugi gave him a sympathetic smile. As much as he was dreading the beach, he knew Ryou had to hate the thought of it even more. Poor Ryou was so pale that he burned after very little exposure to sunlight. The few times they had gone to the beach, Ryou usually went home bright pink. On more than one occasion he had burned a dark red that had taken a good month to fade. Now he usually made it a point to wear a thick layer of sunscreen that he reapplied every couple of hours, and he stayed under the beach umbrella as much as possible. Not that Yuugi blamed him for that, and if he had his way he would be joining Ryou under the umbrella for most of the day.
"You'll be fine," said Jou, grinning.
"That's easy for you to say!" Ryou glared at him. Jou and Malik always tanned in the sun, their skin turning a dimpled shade of gold that only served to make them both look a little like sun gods.
Jou just laughed. "You'll probably be way too busy to even think about that," he said.
"He's right," Malik said, looking at Mai.
She hesitated before coming over to them. "Are you ready to leave?"
"Yes, we are," Jou said, not quite looking her in the eyes. After hearing what she had been doing, he was relieved that she'd shown no signs of returning his initial crush. It could have easily spelled disaster if she had. There was no way he wanted to be torn between a girlfriend and his best friends because really, there was just no contest.
Mai nodded. "The limo is waiting for us. We should go." For a moment she looked like she might want to say something more, but at last she just turned and walked over to the car, a defeated slump to her shoulders. And Yuugi hated, absolutely hated, that he actually felt sorry for her as he followed her over to the car. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he hold a grudge against someone who actually deserved it? Why did he always have to be so nice?
"Hey," Ryou said softly, catching his arm as Malik and Jou climbed in. "Yuugi, you know you don't have to do this, right? You can call the whole thing off at any time and everyone will understand."
"Maybe you would but I don't think everyone else would," Yuugi replied and he was only half-kidding. "No, really, it's okay. Vivian has been a total pain to them for much longer than she has us." He rubbed absently at his shoulder. Ryou's eyes flicked to the bruising just visible along the collar of his shirt and he frowned. "They have a right to want to get back at her and I don't want to be a kill joy. I just… you know I forgive anyone who ever said or did anything bad to me eventually. It's just the way I am."
"I know. And that's not a bad thing, believe me." Actually Ryou thought that quality had probably gone a long way towards saving Yuugi's and Atemu's relationship. "But I bet Atemu will make sure that things don't get too out of hand."
"I hope so." Yuugi climbed into the car and Ryou got in next to him.
"Okay, Mai," Malik said as soon at the door was shut. "Tell us again what Vivian is planning."
Mai sighed. "My story isn't going to change no matter how many times you make me repeat it," she shot back. "But fine. Vivian is planning to be at the beach. Once Yuugi is out of the way she's going to talk to Atemu. She said she wants to make it clear to him that she's the sensible choice when it comes to being the next Queen of Egypt. How she's going to do that, she never said." She studied their expressions and then added, "And before you ask, she didn't tell me how she plans to deal with Yuugi, either. I don't know what she's going to do. I couldn't even begin to guess."
"How is she going to make it clear to Atemu?" Ryou wondered. "He hates her and she must realize that."
"I already told you, I don't know." Mai sounded annoyed. "Isn't it enough that I've given you what I have?"
"It would be if you'd told us anything helpful," Malik mumbled.
"Listen," Mai began angrily.
"Enough!" Yuugi said before a fight could break out between them. He turned his head and glared at the two of them. "I believe Mai. If she said she told us everything she knows then I think she's telling the truth. You're not going to get anything else, Malik, so please stop." He was tired. Tired of this whole situation, of having to constantly wonder if anyone around them could be trusted, and he just wanted it to be over and done with. He couldn't wait to go to bed that night, hopefully with Atemu, and just forget about everything.
"Sorry, Yuugi," Malik said and Mai muttered something similar. Her violet gaze was studying Yuugi intently but he didn't bother to meet her eyes, just went back to looking out the window as they got that much closer to something he was certain was going to end badly.
YY
Seto felt like he was on edge. Normally he was very good at keeping his composure, and even now he was doing an admirable job of presenting a calm front, but that did little to help the anxiety that was growing inside him. He was tense as the limo pulled up to the parking lot and stopped. The four of them just sat there and looked at one another for a long time before Seto sighed and reached out, putting a hand on the door and pushing it open in one smooth movement. He got out first, sweeping his gaze over the crowds of people in an effort to see if Vivian was around. But there were so many people that it would be impossible to see her even if she was there. Frowning, he stepped aside for first Bakura, then Atemu, and finally Mariku to exit the car.
"I don't see her but that doesn't mean she's not here. Be on your guard," he said in a low voice. They had already decided that Bakura would stick close to Atemu, just in case Vivian had decided to get a little more violent with her stunt, while Mariku helped him observe. After everything Seto had seen, including the "accident" with Yuugi and the pot, he wasn't going to put it past her. He helped Mariku to take the bags out of the car and then took the lead, striding across the lot towards the sand with the other three bringing up the rear.
It was a warm Saturday, the kind of day that was just meant for the beach, and so it was quite busy. Their only saving grace was that some of the show's assistants had been sent ahead quite early that morning to claim a good-sized spot for the boys to set up in. Seto set down the bags that he was carrying and spread out the blanket they had brought. On the one hand, they had a good position: they were close to the ice cream shack but far enough away that they were out of the immediate hustle, and - as requested - they were far enough back from the water that no one would be able to sneak up on them that way. Atemu sat down in the middle of the blanket and Bakura and Mariku stationed themselves on either side.
"This is not fun," Atemu said, staring straight ahead at the water. He knew how to swim - they all did - but Seto wasn't sure that would be such a great idea. Too bad the producers of the show were insisting on it. This "episode" was likely going to make up a good portion of their money shots. Already, the cameraman who had been following them around was zooming in on Mariku as he pulled off his shirt, leaving him in just a pair of dark purple swim trunks. His chest looked nicely bronzed and muscled in the brilliant light.
"It's not supposed to be," said Bakura. Unlike Mariku, he was putting on sun block. He was the only one out of the four of them that had the tendency to burn on occasion and he was a real bastard whenever he had to deal with it. Atemu had laid down the law about sun block a long time ago. And it probably didn't help that the camera was now watching him instead of Mariku. Bakura shot the man a Look but let it go.
"Yuugi and the others will be here soon," Seto said, checking his phone. There were no messages and nothing to indicate that the others were close but he felt sure that they were since it was already almost one. He sat down on the blanket and tucked his phone back into his pocket, joining his cousin in looking out at the ocean. The water did look inviting, clear and calm and blue and, more importantly, cool. If they could get Vivian dealt with he might even enjoy going for a swim, especially if he could drag Jou in with him. The thought made him smirk.
Mariku stiffened suddenly. "To your right."
Seto wanted to look. He desperately wanted to look. But he forced himself not to. "Is it her?"
"I can't be sure." Mariku sounded frustrated. "I think so but she was moving too fast for me to see. I only got a glimpse of her before she went behind a crowd and now I can't see anything." He paused. "Should I go check?"
"Yes," Atemu said.
"No," Seto countered. As much as he wanted to get this over with he knew that staying with Atemu was more important. Mariku nodded and subsided, curling up into a tight ball and glaring at everyone who tried to walk by their blanket. Atemu sighed and his shoulders slumped but he offered up no argument.
It was truly hard to say who was happier to see Yuugi, Jou, Malik and Ryou walking across the sand towards them.
Please review!