OOPS. I seriously goofed.
Yugi: At least you posted another chapter on your birthday...like you did last year.
Yeah, but that doesn't excuse me for doing it again. Hopefully I can update a lot sooner. I'll go back and insert the lines where they belong soon.
Yami and Mokuba helped lead Yugi to his bed after dinner was over. As Yami set the bars up, Yugi sighed. "What's bothering you, Yugi," Yami asked.
Yugi looked at him with tears in his eyes, "Why does she hate me? Did I do something wrong? Is that why I don't have a dad?"
"She doesn't hate you, aibou. She just…doesn't have her priorities straight," Yami replied. "Grandpa knows more about your past than I do, so I believe it's best to ask him."
"Can you get him for me, Yami? I want to know. Please," Yugi pleaded.
Yami nodded, "If it helps, then of course."
Yami left their room to find their grandfather.
LINE
Yami found Solomon in the dining room, pouring over the inventory lists from the shop. "Grandpa, remember saying that Yugi was going to start asking about his father," Yami pressed. "He's starting to think that that's why his mother hasn't come home a lot."
Solomon closed the folder and got up from the chair, "I suppose that it's time that he finally learns the past that was kept from him. I should have told him years ago when he asked why I was the one that went with him to father/son events."
Solomon followed Yami to their room. He sat next to Yugi's bedside, "Your brother says that you were asking about your father. What did you want to know?"
"Who is he and what was he like," Yugi said before stopping, trying not to cry.
Solomon sighed, "Your father was my only son, Jamie. He was so proud of you the day you were born. I remember him saying that he wanted two boys, but that you were worth far more than that. He wanted you to have a memorable childhood and tried to teach you to enjoy what you had and not want more than that."
"Where is he," Yugi questioned. "Why don't I know what he looks like?"
"He's gone. He was in a bad accident when you were just five years old. He didn't survive, but you did, though just barely. You lost your memories of the time you had with your father and since you were so young the doctors thought it best that we not ask you to remember. Your mother felt that removing his pictures would ease her pain and help you," Solomon paused.
Yugi sniffled, 'Why didn't she stay here?"
"Because she couldn't forget and couldn't handle the pain she felt," Solomon replied. "She gave you to me and left less than a year after the accident."
LINE
After calming down from hearing of his past and his father, Yugi had finally fallen asleep, tears drying on his face. Solomon tucked Yugi into bed as Yami got ready to call it a night. Yami returned from the bathroom with a damp cloth to clean Yugi's face, "This will be hard for him, knowing that there's a part of his past buried so far that he can't recover it."
"At least he has you to help him," Solomon replied, taking the cloth and gently cleaning the sleeping teen's face.
Yami sat on his own bed, "I understand what he's going through, but I never thought that we had the same issue with missing memories."
"Get some sleep. Tomorrow, you can go to school for a few hours," Solomon informed his healthy grandson.
LINE
Yugi was awakened by Yami's rush to get ready for the day. "What's going on, Yami," he asked, still half asleep. "What time is it?"
"It's 6:30, Yugi. I'm just getting ready for school," Yami replied.
Yugi slowly pushed himself up, "Did Grandpa say whether I could go or not?"
"You are supposed to be resting and taking it easy for a little longer," Yami replied as he ran his brush through his hair. "I'll only be gone for a few hours today."
Yugi sighed as Yami walked over to his bedside and lifted the covers. He understood that Yami wanted him to lay back down and go back to sleep for a few more hours. "Can you keep the Link open so that I can hear the lessons too," Yugi asked his brother.
Yami nodded, "I was going to keep it open in case you needed me. Now go back to sleep."
Yugi nodded and snuggled down into the blankets. Yami tucked him in and left the room after reassuring Yugi that he'd come straight to see him when he got back in a few hours.
LINE
Yami closed his locker and took a look at his new schedule. His first class was history. He was greeted by the classroom as he stepped inside. Since this was officially his first day back, the teacher simply told him to sit next to Joey and started the day's lesson. Halfway through the lecture, a small note was tossed on Yami's desk. He unraveled it and read: So how long are you staying?—Joey
Yami sighed and wrote back in his flowing hand: Just until lunch. I can't stay any longer than that.—Yami
He tossed the note back to Joey and resumed writing notes for Yugi to study later. Another note was tossed to him. So why no longer than lunch?—Joey
Yami sighed as he penned his response. I can't leave Yugi alone for much longer than that. I need to pay attention if I am to share these notes with Yugi.—Yami
He waited until the teacher's back was turned before tossing the note back to Joey. After class ended, Joey caught up with Yami, "So how's Yug doing?"
"He is recovering faster than we had hoped. We did have a bit of a rough night though," Yami replied as he and Joey headed to their next class (math).
Joey was lost, "What happened?"
"He asked about his father last night because he thought that that was why his mother hardly comes home," Yami sighed.
"I've got to meet Yugi's dad," Joey said. "So where is he?"
Yami looked at his feet, "He died. There was an accident when Yugi was younger and he was the only one to make it. His father died before help could arrive. Yugi was severely injured and lost all memory of his first five years."
"That's tough. I never knew that he went through something so tragic," Joey stated. "Poor Yug."
LINE
Yami said goodbye to the others as he headed to the office for early sign-out. By that time they had been told of Yugi's loss. Yami asked them to keep his secret within their circle and not bring it up until Yugi did first. He left the school and headed back to Seto's mansion.
While he was walking back, he couldn't help but laugh at the irony. Seto's past life had been his older cousin on his father's side and he was Yugi's cousin on his mother's side. History, Fate, and Destiny had apparently thought it funny to mess with Seto's life/lives. Either way Yami saw it, Seto was stuck being his cousin in one way or another; especially since Yugi was a part of him.
The moment that Yami got back, he headed straight for his and Yugi's room to check on the recovering Duelist. Yami noticed that Yugi was taking a nap. "He fell asleep almost a half hour ago," Vance stated as he got up from his chair. "I took the liberty of looking after him as your grandfather had to tend to the shop."
"Thank you Vance," Yami replied.
Vance nodded, "I'll let your grandfather know that you've returned from school."
LINE
Later that night, there was a knock at the door, or rather a pounding at Seto's front door. Seto answered it, very irritated that someone had the nerve to come calling at dinnertime. He opened it to a rather angry-looking woman. She had black hair with blonde streaks running through it. "Where is my son," she demanded. "I'm taking him with me."
Seto's eyes narrowed, "And you are?"
"Zoë Kagurazaka," she growled. "Yugi's mother."
"So you're the woman our mother was related to and the one who assumes that she still has legal rights to a certain cousin of mine," Seto sneered. "Nobody is going with you anytime soon. You abandoned Yugi when he needed you most and left him with his grandfather. Now, I suggest you leave while you can before I call security to take you to the proper authorities."
He shut the door on the shocked woman and locked it. Mokuba looked at him from his seat when he returned, "What was that all about, big brother?"
Noticing that Yugi was nowhere in sight, Seto told them. "She showed up demanding that I let her take Yugi with her. I can't stand people like that. They leave their children with others to raise them and the moment things go wrong in their eyes, they want that child back."
LINE
Yugi was exhausted by the time he and Yami made it to their room, leaving Yami to get him ready for bed as carefully as he could. Yugi tired easily, but despite this, he was getting a little stronger every day. Yami had started slipping Yugi a soft treat now and then to help him gain back some of the weight he had lost while he was sick. They went over a history report that Yami was assigned, but halfway through it, Yugi fell asleep.
Yami smiled at his brother's slumbering form as he put his homework away and climbed into his own bed.