Here's the next chapter.
Sorry for the delay. It might take me a week or so to get back into the swing of writing my stories. Just bear with me, please.
/blah blah blah/- Yugi to Yami
[blah blah blah]- Yami to Yugi
Enjoy!
Chapter 51- Graduating
Yugi was sitting in the living room of his and Yami's apartment. There were several textbooks, folders, and notebooks spread out across the table. There were also several small pamphlets, brochures, and legal pads spread out across the table as well.
Yugi rubbed his eyes. He was tired, and it was only three in the afternoon. He got up and headed into the kitchen to start making himself some coffee.
Yugi had been flipping back and forth between studying for his finals and finalizing the details for his and Yami's wedding.
The front door opened and closed, but the sound didn't register in Yugi's mind.
Yami glanced into the living room and saw the mess that was on the table. He knew that Yugi was there at least.
Yugi had a habit of cleaning everything up when he was done doing something or left.
Yami looked into the kitchen and saw Yugi making himself some coffee. Yami walked up behind Yugi and wrapped his arms around Yugi's waist, kissing the back of Yugi's neck.
Yugi jumped slightly. "Yami, when did you get here?" Yugi asked, glancing back at his fiancé.
"Just now. Didn't you hear me come in?" Yami asked.
Yugi sighed. "No. I'm dead tired." Yugi replied.
Yami frowned. "What have you been doing all day?" Yami asked.
"Well from, eight to two-thirty I had exams. I have three more tomorrow, so I've been studying for them along with finalizing the details on the wedding and trying to decide where we should go on the honeymoon." Yugi replied.
Yami took Yugi by the arm and led him back to the living room.
"Yami, I-" Yugi started.
"Yugi, I'll get the coffee. We've been together long enough that I know how you like your coffee. Now," Yami told him, forcing Yugi to sit down, "you stay there and don't even think about touching anything that's on that table." With that, Yami headed back into the kitchen.
Yugi sighed and just sat there.
A few minutes later, Yami returned with a cup of coffee that he handed to Yugi.
Yugi took the cup and started to drink it.
"You're running yourself down, Yugi. You can't keep this up. Between the stress of the wedding and your exams, you need to relax some." Yami warned him.
"Well, we're planning to get married in June, so I have to have all of the plans made." Yugi replied.
"I know that, Yugi, but there's no reason for you to plan the honeymoon, too. Leave that much to me." Yami told him.
Yugi started to protest.
"Yugi, you focus on the wedding. I'll deal with the honeymoon." Yami stated more forcefully.
Yugi sighed. "Okay, Yami. The honeymoon is the part that you are looking forward to anyway." Yugi remarked. He picked up the brochures that he had picked up and handed them to Yami.
Yami leaned over and kissed Yugi. "Now, I'm looking forward to getting married to you because that means that I can call you my husband and be truthful when I tell people that you are mine." Yami told him, straightening up.
Yugi rolled his eyes. "You are truthful when you say that to people now, Yami." Yugi reminded him.
"I suppose so." Yami agreed. He smirked and said, "But now I can tell them that we are married."
"And you'll be telling people that all the time." Yugi said.
"You'd better believe it." Yami agreed. He glanced through the brochures that Yugi had handed him. "You really have a variety." Yami remarked.
Yugi glanced up.
"Venice, a Caribbean cruise, Jamaica, Australia, Paris, Cairo, Hawaii, and Mexico." Yami read the title on each brochure as he passed it.
Yugi smiled. "I hadn't managed to figure out which one I wanted to go with, so I'll let you decide that now." Yugi explained.
"Leave me with the hard part." Yami muttered.
Yugi laughed. "As if you really care." Yugi stated.
"I suppose so." Yami replied. He glanced at Yugi and said, "Forget the wedding plans for now, Yugi. You have most everything settled, and it's not like it can't wait until after exams." Yami told him.
Yugi sighed. "I guess you have a point." Yugi concurred.
Yami smiled. "I know I have one. Since I'm done with my exams, I'll leave you alone to study." Yami told him.
"If I can stay awake." Yugi retorted, taking another sip of his coffee.
"There's a whole pot of coffee." Yami told him.
"I know. It'll probably take en just to keep me awake." Yugi stated.
"Well, if you have that trouble, take a little nap and then get back to it." Yami stated.
"I'm willing to give anything a try right now." Yugi remarked.
"Well, I'll head on out." Yami said before he left.
Yugi smiled. 'He does make sure I'm taken care of. I have to give him that.' Yugi thought. He continued to drink the coffee as he tried to focus enough to study.
The following day, Yami was sitting at a table in the cafeteria on campus with the brochures spread out around him.
Mandy was sitting at the table with him. "So, you volunteered to plan the honeymoon." Mandy stated as she picked up one of the brochures and started to leaf through it.
"Yeah, although that might be a mistake." Yami said.
"Better than having to plan the wedding." Mandy replied.
"I might be, but I have no idea which one to do. I'm about to the point that I'm going to write number one through eight on slips of paper and draw a number. Number the brochures, too, and the number I pick is the place we're going." Yami sighed in frustration.
Mandy laughed. "I wouldn't ask Carrie if I were you." Mandy warned him.
Yami glanced over at his friend. "Why not?" Yami asked.
"Because Carrie will start on about how Paris is the city of love and that you need to go there." Mandy explained.
Yami grimaced. "Okay. Better not ask her." Yami remarked.
"Where did Yugi want to go?" Mandy asked.
"One of these places, but he hadn't figured out which one, either." Yami answered.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you." Mandy told him.
"Thanks a lot." Yami muttered.
Mandy snickered. "I'm not the one who volunteered to plan the honeymoon when I didn't have the fainted idea where I wanted to go." Mandy told him.
Yami sighed. He knew that she was right about that. He just hadn't realized how hard it would be to plan where he and Yugi would go for their honeymoon.
Yugi was headed back to his apartment he shared with Yami. It was already after six, and he had just gotten done with his last exam for the night. 'I'm going in and diving into bed, and I will dare Yami to disturb me for the next twenty-four hours.' Yugi thought.
When Yugi arrived at the apartment, he found that it was unlocked, which meant that Yami was home. He opened the door and walked in.
Yami walked out from the living room and smiled. "So, how did it go?" Yami asked.
"Fine, I suppose. I'm just tired." Yugi replied.
Yami walked over and kissed him. "Come on. We have company." Yami told him.
Yugi hadn't really wanted to have to deal with company, but he figured that he would have to simply grin ad bear it. He walked into the living room and was stunned.
"Hey, Yugi!" Heba said excitedly as he got up and hugged hi brother.
"What are you three doing here?" Yugi asked.
"Four." Atemu corrected, referring to his and Heba's son that Solomon was holding.
"Four then." Yugi amended.
"We're here for your graduation." Solomon explained.
"That's not for another four days, though." Yugi reminded him.
"We know, but we thought that we would come early to spend a little time with you two." Solomon answered.
Four-month old Andre had Atemu's crimson eyes with Heba's soft features. He also had the star-shaped, tri-color hair that his parents and uncles were known for. He had the lightening bolt streaks like Atemu did.
"You've certainly gotten bigger, Andre." Yugi cooed, taking the baby from his grandfather.
"Well, it's been a month since the last time you saw him." Heba retorted.
"Yes. What happened to using Shadow magic to visit?" Solomon added.
"Sorry, Grandpa." Yugi told him.
"Schoolwork was thrown at us hard this month, and we haven't really had much time." Yami explained.
"What about the wedding plans?" Heba asked.
"Between them and my schoolwork, I've barely had time for sleep." Yugi replied.
"Good grief! You can't lose sleep over all this." Solomon admonished.
Yugi smiled. "I know, Grandpa. I'll have more time for sleep anyway." Yugi replied.
"Now tell them the other news." Yami prodded.
"YOU'RE PREGNANT?" Solomon exclaimed.
"NO!" Yugi and Yami shouted at the same time.
"Grandpa, trust me. I am not pregnant. No plans f that for a few years." Yugi assured him.
"Then what?" Heba asked.
"We've decided to move the wedding to July. It'll give us a little more time to get everything planned out, especially since we are getting married in Domino." Yugi explained.
"Now that I can deal with." Solomon breathed, relieved.
Heba laughed. "And here we all thought we were adding another baby to the family." Heba stated.
Yugi shook his head. "Not right now." Yugi answered.
"Well, that's good news at least." Atemu said.
"Indeed." Solomon agreed.
"So, how's Seth doing?" Yugi asked.
Seth was Seto and Joey's son. He was a miniature version of Seto right down to his attitude.
"Oh, Joey's just irked that Seth's attitude is just like his father's." Atemu answered.
"And Seto loves the fact." Yami stated.
"More than you can imagine." Atemu agreed.
"It'll be great to see the whole gang again." Yami stated.
"So, when do we get the grand tour of the campus?" Solomon asked.
"Tomorrow. I'm way too tired to even attempt to leave the apartment." Yugi replied.
"Understandable." Solomon agreed.
The group spent the rest of the evening talking until it was time for Solomon, Atemu, and Heba to head to their hotel for the night.
"So, we get to spend the next four days with family." Yami stated.
"There goes your plan of trying to keep me in bed for four days straight." Yugi stated, knowing that his fiancé had planned to try.
Yami grinned. "Maybe I can manage that on the honeymoon." Yami stated.
"Knowing you, you'll try." Yugi said, knowing his fiancé would try it.
The following day, Yugi and Yami gave their family members a tour of the campus since they knew that they wouldn't be able to get out of it.
"This campus is a lot bigger than the one at Cairo. I don't think I could have handled it here." Atemu remarked, glancing around.
Yugi laughed. "Once you know the names of the buildings, it's not that bad. The hardest part was walking from one building to the next with only ten minutes between two classes. That's rough when you have to go from one end of the campus to the other." Yugi told him.
"At least you got good exercise." Heba stated.
"More than that. You practically have to break out into a run just to get to the class on time." Yami muttered.
Solomon chuckled. "No wonder you two have stayed so fit." Solomon said.
"Between that and the gym, we were able to keep in great shape." Yami replied.
Atemu raised an eyebrow. "How did you two find the time to go to the gym? I mean, you said yourself that you two were bogged down with schoolwork most of the time." Atemu stated.
Yugi laughed. "We managed to squeeze it in at least three times of week. Granted, it wasn't easy, but we managed." Yugi answered.
Yugi and Yami continued to show them around.
"I'm glad to finally be able to see where you two went to school for the last four years." Solomon remarked.
"And for the next four years given the fact that we are both planning to be doctors." Yami added.
Solomon glanced over at them. "Are you prepared to spend the next four years here in America?" Solomon asked.
"Yes, Grandpa. We will be glad when we can live full-time in Japan again, but we're managing just fine living here in America." Yugi assured him.
Andre started to get fussy.
"Looks like someone's starting to get a little hungry." Heba said as he shifted Andre in his arms.
"There are a few places that we can eat right off campus. Trust me. Yugi and I like eating off campus better." Yami told them.
"Lead the way." Atemu told him, making a dramatic gesture.
Yami rolled his eyes, but started walking with the others following.
"So, what are our choices?" Heba asked.
"There's a deli, a pizza place, a burger place, and a hot dog place." Yugi answered.
"Hmm. Not bad choices." Solomon remarked.
"Since it's a beautiful day, there are places that we can sit at outside and everyone can choose what they want to eat." Yami suggested.
"An excellent idea!" Solomon agreed.
Yugi and Heba went on to sit down so that Heba could feed Andre. Atemu and Yami were going to get their food for them.
"So, are you excited to be graduating?" Heba asked.
"Well, yeah. I'm glad to get out of undergraduate classes now. I'll be focusing on my medical classes now." Yugi told him.
Heba took out a bottle of purified water and added the baby formula before shaking the bottle.
Yugi was holding Andre who was getting really fussy. "I'd hurry up there papa. Your son is getting rather impatient." Yugi told him.
Heba sighed. "He's as impatient as his father." Heba stated.
"Well, Atemu was royalty five thousand years ago, so he's used to be waited on hand and foot. I'm sure that he gets impatient because of that at times." Yugi said.
"Not the only time he gets impatient." Heba muttered.
Yugi started laughing. "I think all of us Hikaris have that problem at times." Yugi stated.
Heba finally had the formula ready and handed the bottle to Yugi.
"You want me to feed him?" Yugi asked.
"Sure. You haven't done it yet, so you might as well." Heba told him.
Yugi shrugged and took the bottle from Andre, starting to feed him.
Andre calmed immediately and started drinking the milk.
"You looked rather comfy there, Yugi."
Yugi and Heba both looked to see that Atemu and Yami had come up to them with their food.
Atemu had burgers and fries for Heba and himself. Yami had gotten himself some pizza and a sub for Yugi.
"Don't be getting any ideas, Atemu. You won't be an uncle for at least five years." Yugi told his brother-in-law.
"Just sayin'." Atemu replied as he sat down.
Yami sat down as well.
Yugi looked over at his fiancé. "Where's Grandpa?" Yugi asked.
"He's in line getting himself a sub. He should be here any minute." Yami answered.
Sure enough, Solomon followed soon.
By then ,Andre had finished eating, had been burped, and was now asleep.
"So, where to next?" Solomon asked.
"There's not all that much to do. There are a few shops that we can look into if you want." Yugi told him.
"I believe that that would be a good idea." Solomon agreed.
'I'm never going to get all of the wedding plans done.' Yugi thought.
"So, should I tell Bakura and Marik to start planning the bachelor party, Yami?" Atemu asked.
Yami nearly choked on the piece of pizza that he had bitten into. Yugi patted Yami on the back to help him out. Yami grabbed his drink and took a huge gulped before he said, "What bachelor party?"
Atemu rolled his eyes. "Your bachelor party. You know, when you celebrate your last days of being single before getting married.' Atemu explained.
"I know what a bachelor party is, Atemu. What in the world do you mean by Bakura and Marik planning one?" Yami demanded.
Heba laughed. "They've both been gripping about the fact that neither one of them have had one, and that neither Seto or Atemu had one, either." Heba answered.
"Which leaves you." Atemu added.
"Oh, no. I am not having a bachelor party. That is out." Yami said, shaking his head.
"Why?" Atemu asked.
"Because I have no reason to celebrate the end of my single days. I'm thrilled to be getting married to Yugi. A bachelor party means you're upset to be leaving those days behind. I'm not." Yami told him.
"You know that Bakura and Marik aren't going to be deterred." Atemu warned him.
"Why didn't they have a bachelor party when they got married if they want one so badly?" Yami asked.
Solomon chuckled. "Because Ryou and Malik went to great lengths to ensure that neither of them even knew what a bachelor party was before they got married. It wasn't until recently that they learned what a bachelor party was. Trust me. They were pissed because they didn't get the chance to have one." Solomon explained.
"How did Ryou and Malik manage that?" Yugi asked.
"I have no idea, but I'm sure that they are glad they did." Solomon said.
"Come on, Yami. You might as well agree to it because they aren't going to be happy until you agree. Besides, they'll bug you to death about it once you get to Domino." Atemu told him.
Yami groaned.
/Yami, you might as well agree. You know that Bakura and Marik are persistent./ Yugi told him through the mind link.
[I don't want one!] Yami moaned.
/Would you rather know about it and be able to have it done your way, or not know and hate what those two might do?/ Yugi asked.
Yami glanced up at Atemu. "Oh, all right, but I have the power to veto anything those two try to pull." Yami conceded.
"What do you think they would do?" Atemu asked.
"Nothing illegal, Atemu." Yugi told him.
Atemu chuckled. "I would make sure of that. I'm not going to be thrown in jail because I got involved with one of their shenanigans." Atemu assured him.
"And absolutely no strippers." Yami added.
Heba looked at Yami oddly. "What makes you think they'd want to see women strip?" Heba asked.
"There is a such thing as male strippers, Heba." Yugi reminded him.
Heba grimaced before he looked at Atemu. "Not a one." Heba added.
"That I won't agree to. I think that it'll be fine, though." Atemu assured him.
[I hope so.] Yami thought.
/You'll be fine./ Yugi told him.
~Graduation Day~
Yugi looked at himself in his graduation gown. It was the Harvard color of crimson with a crimson hat to go with it.
"You look good, Yugi." Yami told him.
Yugi turned to face Yami, who was also dressed in the gown. "So do you." Yugi replied.
"Well, we still have one more graduation after this one." Yami remarked.
"I know. Let's just get through this one first." Yugi stated.
"I talked to Atemu a little bit ago. They're going to head on to the auditorium for the graduation. He said that they'll see us after the graduation ceremony." Yami explained.
"All right. We might as well get going." Yugi stated.
"True." Yami agreed.
The two left their apartment and headed out to where they had to gather with the other graduates.
~Graduation~
At the graduation ceremony, the dean made opening remarks about the graduating student body. He also made remarks about the prestigious school that they would all be graduating from.
After that, there was a guest speaker who also spoke about the school as well as the great accomplishment that the students had achieved.
After a few more people spoke, names started to be called for the graduation ceremony.
Yugi was called first among the two. Yami was called near the end.
When both were called, their family members were cheering loudly for them, proud of what the two had accomplished.
After all the diplomas were given out, the dean spoke against and wished the students well on their next endeavor, which would me medical school for Yugi and Yami.
"At least that's over." Yami muttered.
Yugi smiled at his fiancé. "We're still going to be graduating again." Yugi reminded him.
"I know, but at least there's just one more that we have to deal with and then we're done with graduations." Yami stated.
The two soon met up with their families.
"Congratulations." Heba said as he hugged his brother.
"Thanks." Yugi replied.
"Your gown works with your eyes, Yami.' Atemu remarked.
Yami growled. "It's not my fault that the school color is crimson." Yami retorted.
"All right, you two. Enough. We're celebrating Yugi and Yami graduating. At least this time." Solomon stated.
Yugi laughed. "Yeah, but the next graduation is a long ways off, and Yami and I have a lot that we are going to have to do before then." Yugi said.
"Like get married." Yami added, slipping an arm around Yugi's waist.
"Are you sure that you don't want to wait a few days to leave to head back to Domino?" Solomon asked.
"No, Grandpa. We'd like to get back home." Yugi replied.
"All right." Solomon said.
They would all be heading back to Domino the following day.
~Domino, Japan~
Yugi and Yami were glad to be back in their hometown. They always missed it, even if they did use Shadow magic to visit as often as they could manage.
Both were shocked at the reception at home.
All of their friends were there.
"We all couldn't be at your graduation, but we figured that this party would have to do." Joey told them.
Yugi turned to his grandfather. "You knew about this, didn't you?" Yugi accused.
Solomon chuckled. "Yes, I did know. It's why I wanted you two to stay in the US a few extra days. To give them time to get things ready." Solomon explained.
"But someone decided to come on back." Seto muttered.
"We wanted to get home, Seto. There's nothing wrong with that." Yami informed him.
Seto shrugged.
"Enough talk. Let's get this party started." Tea ordered.
There was enough food there to feed an army. There was also some music for them all to listen to.
The cake that had been ordered read: CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FUTURE DOCTORS! There was a graduation cap as well as a rolled up looking diploma on the cake for decoration.
"Well, I guess we're celebrating our graduation after all." Yami stated.
"Yes, you are, and don't expect this the next time you graduate." Bakura snapped.
Ryou whacked him in the head.
"Ow!" Bakura exclaimed, glaring at his Hikari, whom ignored him.
Yugi and Yami couldn't help but laugh.
Some things would just never change.
It was good to be home as far as they were concerned.
Hope you liked it.
Next: Yami's bachelor party.
R&R.
