"I feel so stupid." Yugi whispered under his breath. A small metal placard fastened to the door at eye level read 'Room 220'. Slender fist raised to the door, he knocked twice. This is it. I can't turn back now.

Everything up to this point had felt surreal to Yugi. He lived within his head the entire two days since he had last seen Akefia. Every minute of every hour passed in a haze. Many times, he turned to his tea mug for security and comfort but often his thoughts would return to Him. The Pharaoh. It was a dark place to be stuck for days on end. If he were not thinking of the Pharaoh, he thought of Akefia.

As he thought of him now. He had left the man in a terrible state. He still felt guilty for not paying attention to the signs. It should have been obvious, but Yugi was instead oblivious, enthralled by the story Akefia had woven. He recalled the man's fevered, flushed face, looking at Yugi but not seeing. It was an image that had haunted him ceaselessly for the last couple of days.

The door suddenly swung inward, jolting Yugi out of his thoughts. Akefia stood in the entrance, looking genuinely surprised to see him. He wore the 'Kame Game' sweatshirt and black pants that Yugi had given him. They were baggy on Yugi's petite frame but seemed to fit the other men well. He looked good in the old, borrowed clothes.

"Good to see you again." He grinned at Yugi's disheveled features. "What brings you here?"

"Th-thank you. Can I come in?" Blood rushed to Yugi's ears as he flushed with embarrassment at being caught unaware.

Akefia swung the door wider, giving Yugi free entrance to his hospital room. He treaded lightly into the space, feeling some of the tension lift as he entered the room. An instant calm washed over him from the subdued lighting. The room was cool and shady, lit only by natural sunlight that filtered through the double window.

"You didn't answer my question." Akefia stated, amusement turning up the corner of his lips. He closed the door with a gentle 'click' as Yugi cleared the entry.

"No, I guess I didn't. Sorry about that." Yugi sat down on the double seater under the window.

"There's no need to be sorry. " Akefia remarked quietly. He sat at a small folding table and took a sip of steaming black coffee from a plain white mug.

Yugi observed the man as he drank. Without bags under his eyes and beads of sweat on his forehead, he looked like a whole new person. In this light, the man's good looks were not lost on Yugi.

Akefia noticed Yugi's staring gaze, turning his striking eyes to meet his attention. They held a wordless exchange until Akefia broke the chain with a questioning upturn of an eyebrow. The side smirk returned to the man's lips in what Yugi was coming to realize as a signature look for the handsome foreigner.

Ashamed, he turned his gaze from the man to glance around the small room. There were only the bare necessities of a normal hospital room, including a bed, the two-seater sofa, a rollout-chair and a rollout-tray, and a television mounted on the wall above the bed. Akefia or his nurse had turned up the bed linens to appear neat, and, to Yugi's utmost surprise, a tall bud vase sat on the rollout tray next to the bed. In it were two fresh, red chrysanthemums.

Yugi's breath caught in his chest upon notice of them. It was an innocent reaction to the sudden surprise but Yugi felt shame at the assumption, nonetheless.

"My morning nurse brought me the flowers." Akefia's soft voice broke the tense silence to answer Yugi's unspoken question.

A barely audible hum as he exhaled was Yugi's only reply. Any words Yugi had intended to say had all but died on the tip of his tongue. He felt awkward as he sat a mere meter from Akefia, unable to make small talk, let alone any further discussion of topics of more importance.

Akefia was, again, the first to break the silence. "I'm going to be discharged tomorrow. It was supposed to happen today, but the nurses told me stay another night. I think I've become their favorite." He winked at Yugi.

"Oh... That's great." Yugi squirmed in his seat, cringing at the curt remarks. "Can we talk about the dream you had? I'm curious about something."

"Sure, Yugi. I had assumed that might be the reason for your visit." Akefia finished his last sip of coffee and set the mug down with a clink. He then turned his full attention on the quiet boy. "What is it you're curious about?"

"Did you dream about me? Am I supposed to be a part of some prophecy?" Yugi felt odd asking that. It sounded dumb when spoken aloud, even a little crazy. "Or is this a scam?" He half- heartedly attempted a chuckle. Cracking jokes in the grip of anxiety was not a skill he boasted.

Akefia just smiled. To Yugi, it looked a little sad. "My dream was of a lovely Goddess who showed me an image of you in my mind. She was also the one who told me your name." He paused to watch Yugi's reaction. "I know it sounds fabricated, but I seem to have been guided to you in some capacity."

Yugi swallowed around the lump in his throat. "Can you tell me anything else?"

"There is nothing else. Nothing regarding you, anyway. There was truly little to take from the dream."

"It's just so much digest."

"It is... I want to be transparent with you, Yugi. You deserve that much. The whole thing seems unbelievable to me as well. But hear me out - I traveled for two days and two nights without direction towards a destination I knew nothing about, and somehow, I still found you - the person showed to me in my dream." He paused.

"My rational mind keeps trying to justify the memory loss. Maybe my head was hit extremely hard. Perhaps the dream was a hallucination induced by - I don't know what… But somehow, I know that is not the case. There have been certain events that have convinced me otherwise." As he finished, he eyed Yugi, silently urging him to comment.

"I'm glad you told me this. I have been thinking a lot about you and your situation, and I hope this doesn't sound rash. I also don't want to cross any personal boundaries." Yugi paused, mentally gathering the strands of his poorly constructed plan that he had failed to pick up the entire visit. It was not easy speaking his mind about it when he had gone so far to remove himself from his old life. It took a generous amount of courage to get as far as he had for this man, and he hadn't been absolutely sure until this very moment. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"I want you to stay with me at my apartment - that is, if you don't have anywhere else to go... Maybe we could discuss it your dream more at another time and perhaps find what your calling is together."

Though he tried hard, he could not keep his voice from shaking. It was true, he couldn't think of a better option for either of them. Also, Yugi had never been the type to say no to someone in need when he had the means to help - even at the cost to his own wellbeing. He knew with the admission that he was damning himself, allowing the fate of prophecy to control his life once more. It could be dangerous. He could lose everything. Again.

He noticed Akefia watching intently, a look of surprise and curiosity adorning his face. Yugi dropped his eyes to his lap and continued.

"Besides, I've been in a similar situation before. I guess I can imagine why I've been chosen to aid you." Yugi's voice hitched at the last words and a dam of tears that he hadn't been aware of suddenly burst free. He pulled himself into a ball on the chair he sat on and bawled into his knees, unable to contain big sobs as he gulped for precious air.

Though Yugi didn't notice his swift approach, Akefia stooped next to him and placed a comforting hand on his back. He rubbed massaging circles in the space between Yugi's shoulder blades, trying to provide a little distraction to both. The pain Yugi held in his heart did not need speaking of to feel.

Yugi sobbed into his knees, every rasping breath he took was a struggle. Akefia embraced him, placing both arms around Yugi in a blanketing cradle. The man's fresh scent tingled Yugi's nostrils with every inhale, bringing him back to reality little by little. He raised himself from his ball to clutch desperately at Akefia. The need for the strangers comforting embrace was a selfish one, but he couldn't think of a single thing he desired more at that moment. He locked onto the man's neck and buried his face in the long, white locks.

Yugi came out of his crying stupor to a soft voice speaking to him. The words were so quiet and gentle that he couldn't make it out. Akefia continued to clutch at him in a tight embrace with an intensity equal to Yugi's. "I'm sorry." Yugi withdrew from the man's neck, sniffed, and dabbed his eyes with his sleeve. "I'm so sorry," He repeated. Akefia continued to hold him. Yugi felt the man tremble in his grip; he was crying too.

"Do you really mean it?" Akefia asked, after some time had passed. His eyes were still wet as he pulled away from Yugi.

"I'm going to pick you up first thing in the morning." Akefia didn't dry the tear streaks under his eyes; Yugi reached over to get a tissue from the box on the small table next to him. "Clean yourself up, I can't stand to see you like that."

Akefia took the tissue handed to him and dabbed at his eyes. "But Yugi, don't you-"

"No, don't ask any more questions. We can talk about it when we get home. I'm exhausted. "

Akefia persisted. "Don't you have any sense of caution?"

Yugi deadpanned. "I said no more questions. " The pout was shallow and short lived, replaced quickly by a genuine smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"You better." Akefia smiled back and stepped aside for Yugi to rise. Taking one last look at Akefia, he let himself out. It was time to go home and take a restful nap. When the door clicked into place behind him, he began a slow, steady walk back to his car. He would have a lot preparation to do before Akefia could come home, mentally, and physically.

Akefia lingered on Yugi's retreating form long after he had shut the door. The boy's tears were still wet in his hair. It had pained him to hear his uncontrollable sobs, to feel the trembling figure under his arms. Yugi radiated an overwhelming sense of grief that Akefia felt dragged into. It mingled with his own sense of loss and despair until Akefia cried too, desperately clinging to the boy for mutual comfort. He hated that Yugi had left so suddenly.

"Home…." The promise sprung to his mind in a heady excitement. Home. They would talk about it later. Everything was going to be okay.

Yugi woke from his brief nap to the buzz of his cellphone ringing. He tossed the heavy bed blankets aside, feeling the rush of cold air touch his bare legs as he swung his feet over the side of the bed. His phone sat on his desk on the other side of the room, vibrating incessantly. He padded barefoot over the cold hardwood, wincing with every step.

Grandpa. He answered on the last ring.

"Hello?"

"Yugi, are you busy? I need your help at the store. There is a large crowd of people here and I'm afraid I've hurt my back trying to get something off a high shelf. Please hurry."

"I'll be right there." He sighed. Of all the days Suguroku had to pull a muscle. He dressed in record time, grabbed the keys from the dish on his dresser, and left the house. Never had he felt the need to say "No" to his grandfather, and Suguroku knew Yugi would never dare deny him help when he urgently called upon it. As family, Yugi felt obliged to help run his grandfather's small game shop. He really didn't mind most of the time he was called in to work a weekend - he lived less than ten minutes from the store and he still owned a key - but this time he actually had other matters to attend to for once. However, it couldn't be helped, and his motto was to not complain about things outside of his control.

He parked in the front of the shop and leisurely walked up to the building entrance. He could see the amount of people inside the tiny store even from where he was, through the small window of the closed door. Suguroku stood behind the counter, clutching at the small of his back and laughing heartily at something with the first customer.

He quickly turned the aged knob of the door and walked inside. He had to push through the crowd of people to get to the counter, having to politely nod at each individual before he broke free.

"Grandpa, go inside. I've got this." Yugi placed one hand on his shoulder and made a shooing motion with the other.

"Thank you, Yugi. Can you close up, too?"

"Sure thing."

"You're a lifesaver. What can this old man say to convince you to take over?" Suguroku said over his shoulder as he retreated. Yugi knew it was an innocent remark but was one that would come up every so often in various settings. It sometimes felt like a slight because Suguroku knew how Yugi felt about it. Instead of making a counter remark, Yugi brushed it off again. He watched him amble toward the back of the store and disappear into the house.

He turned back to face the customer his grandfather had left him with, bowing just a touch.

"Fifteen thousand yen." He accepted the money and placed it into the register. "Have a great day!" He sighed heavily and turned to the next customer. The man had a young child who reached over the counter with two boxed action figures.

With dawning realization, he knew the reason for the plethora of customers. The figures were limited-edition promotional toys of the upcoming Duel Monsters Tournament that Seto Kaiba had scheduled for the beginning of the year. There were only 100 made of each of the two figures, and Suguroku had half of that in his store. Yugi remembered stocking them himself. Domino tourists flocked to occasions such as these; they came for games and tournaments, not for scenery.

With a hint of aggravation that he managed to hide well, he returned to his cashier duties. With practiced finesse, he tuned the negative banter out of his mind.

Yugi returned to his apartment at 21:00.

The hordes of people were unrelenting. He had made the executive decision to stay open past the usual closing hours because of the stress his grandfather had been under recently. He would have benefited from the extra money; in one Saturday, the shop performed three times better than any other given day - it was a blessing in disguise. Yugi, shocked at the end total when he counted it, had rushed into the house, stack of yen in hand, to show Suguroku the large tally.

The elderly man grabbed him in a strong bear hug, despite his pulled muscle. He gave Yugi half without counting the stack first and would not accept any sort of discussion over it. Yugi felt buzzed and giddy all the way home. Suguroku gave him nearly fifty-thousand yen. He could already envision what he could purchase with that. A full-size futon, perhaps. Or any piece of furniture that would fill his bare apartment.

Yugi froze two feet inside his cold, darkened apartment as a scary realization struck him – he couldn't afford to heat his apartment on his own. How was he going to provide for another person?

The thought knocked him down a notch. Fifty-thousand yen. It would need to be put aside in the case of an emergency. He would have to pick up another job or help Akefia find one. It wasn't going to be all peaches and cream from here. He would have a hell of a time making the two of them comfortable. And that was not even considering whatever fate was in store for them.

When he made it to his bedroom, he immediately kicked his jeans off and crawled under the chilly bed sheets. Soon after, he was asleep, knocked out from sheer exhaustion.