Chapter 7

Being Found

and Old Friends Meeting

New Friends

The next day at the mansion, Yugi walked outside with the Egyptians to see them off to work. "Keep in mind of what you promised." said Seto, still hating having someone new live with them.

"Don't worry Seto, I never go back on my word once I've made a promise."

Rolling his eyes as if not believing him, Seto walked over to a tree to wait for the other four. When Yugi let out a sigh, Malik said when he came up to the prince, "Don't let his attitude get to you, prince. In time, Seto will grow to like you like the rest of us have."

"Thanks Malik." And so, Malik took Marik by the hand and they went over to join Seto.

"Take care until tonight, Yugi." Bakura said and he pat the prince on his shoulder and soon went to join Seto, Marik and Malik over under the tree.

When Atem approached Yugi, he placed a tender touch on his shoulder and said when they made eye contact, "I'm glad that you're living here with us where you're safe from the king."

Smiling up at the bronze teen, Yugi reply, "Thank you for letting me stay here with you."

Then Atem leaned closer to Yugi and place a soothing, tender kiss on his forehead. "See you tonight."

Blushing from the kiss, Yugi replied, "See you tonight."

And so, Atem left Yugi's side to join the other four Egyptians and they left the mansion for the gold mine. Yugi stayed where he was, watching them leave until they were out of sight. When he no longer saw the five Egyptians, Yugi went inside to get going on his chores.

A couple hours later, while Yugi was doing dishes in the kitchen, he heard a knock at the door. Setting down a plate he was drying off, Yugi wiped his hands on his clothes and went to answer the door. The moment he opened the door, Yugi was overwhelmed by surprise when he saw his two best friends standing at the door, looking exhausted. "Jonouchi! Ryou! What are you two doing here?" Yugi said as he helped his childhood friends stand on their feet.

"We came looking for you, Yug."

"When we heard that Dartz wanted Honda to kill you, Jonouchi and I had to find you."

"You two do know that I can never go back to the castle."

"We know, we didn't come out this way to take you back, Yugi." Ryou said, shaking his head to show that they weren't going to take him back.

"Yeah, instead we are staying with you." Jonouchi said as Yugi led the two inside to the living room.

"How were you two able to find me?"

"We went to Mystical Elf's village and she and Celtic Guardian pointed us to the right direction."

"Well I'm glad you made it here safely." Then Yugi remembered Honda and what he last told him before he ran into the woods. "What about Honda? Was he able to ask my stepfather to release him and his family?"

"Yes, they left at the same moment we were leaving the castle." said Ryou.

"So don't worry about them Yug. They'll be safe from Dartz's wrath."

Then Yugi thought that Honda had killed a wild boar so he could deceive Dartz. "What will happen if he finds out that the heart in the box is not mine?"

"Oh, no one will ever tell him that heart belonged to a wild boar because everyone in the castle and the kingdom care more about you than they feel toward that grouchy dragon."

"But Jonouchi, Dartz has a magic mirror. The moment he confronts it, he'll learn that the heart isn't Yugi's and then he'll figure out where Yugi is hiding and he'll kill him himself."

"Oh shit, forgot he has his damn powers."

"It's okay Jonouchi, I'm safe as long as Atem and the other Egyptians are here to protect me."

"Atem?" Jonouchi and Ryou looked at each other, confused.

"Atem is the bronze teen I met yesterday, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" Jonouchi said as they remembered the teen that won Yugi's heart.

"So he lives here?"

"Yeah. They'll be back tonight. I'll introduce you two to them. If they know you two are my friends, they'll accept you like they accepted me."

"Well," Ryou said, looking around the room, "this mansion is really nice. We may have a better life here than at the castle."

"I gotta agree."

"Well, I need to get back to my chores. You two can help me out."

"Okay." And so, for the rest of the day, Yugi, Jonouchi and Ryou cleaned the mansion for the Egyptians when they returned home for the night.

By the time night had taken over the sky, Yugi became very excited; nighttime meant that Atem is on his way home with the other Egyptians. When the three heard the front door of the mansion open, Yugi ran to the front lobby with Ryou and Jonouchi close behind him.

The moment Yugi saw Atem he wrapped his arms around the Egyptian so fast that he caught him off guard, making Atem fall on his back, laughing. To see Yugi so happy to see him, Atem pat the smaller teen on his back and said, "Happy to see me, Yugi?"

Clutching his arms tighter around his neck, Yugi snuggled in the nape of his neck and reply, "Very happy, Atem." When they made eye contact, Yugi added, "I want you and the others to meet someone."

"Okay." Once the young Prince was off of him, Yugi helped Atem to his feet with a little bit of support from Bakura who along with Malik and Marik was chuckling at watching the two.

After Atem collected himself from the fall, Yugi gently pulled him by the hand and led him and the other four Egyptians inside to meet someone. Entering the living room, when the Egyptians saw Ryou and Jonouchi, Bakura blushed when him and his look alike made eye contact and Ryou also blushed. "Atem, Bakura, Malik, Marik, Seto, I want you five to meet my childhood best friends from the castle; Ryou and Jonouchi." said Yugi, making the introductions between his old and new friends.

Stepping closer to Ryou, both blushing at each other, Bakura said, rubbing the back of his neck, "So you're that friend of Yugi's that he told me that looks like me, huh?"

"Um, I guess so." Ryou reply with him running his one hand up and down his arm, shyly.

Then to Ryou's surprise, Bakura said with a warm smile, still blushing, "Come on, I want to learn more about you."

His face turning completely red when he felt Bakura gently grab his hand, Ryou returned the smile, "Okay." And the two went upstairs, to Bakura's room possibly, to talk and get to know each other.

When Marik and Malik left the main hallway to be alone, either together in one of their bedrooms or just by themselves, Seto and Jonouchi blushed when they locked gazes. Both still blushing, Seto was the first to break the silence, "So mutt, I want to know things about you."

Annoyed by the nickname he had just been given, Jonouchi said, "Don't call me that! But to be honest, I would like to learn about your life."

Pointing up towards his bedroom upstairs, Seto said, "Come with me to my room."

And so, with their friends gone, leaving them alone in the main lobby of the mansion, Yugi noticed the sad look in Atem's eyes and across his face again. Concern for the one closest to him in his heart, Yugi said as he held Atem's arm with both of his arms, drawing Atem's attention to him, "Atem, I can tell that something is bothering you. You can tell me what's wrong."

Seeing that he can't hide his problems from the young Prince anymore, Atem let out a sigh and said, taking Yugi's hand, "Come with me and I'll tell you." With that, Atem led Yugi away from the lobby.

At first Yugi thought that Atem was going to take him up to his room but then he was proven wrong when Atem past the stairs. "Where are we going, Atem?"

"Somewhere more private. In the bedrooms upstairs, you can easily hear what is going on in the other rooms."