A Walk in the Park

Disclaimer and Author's Notes: Have I ever owned Yu-Gi-Oh before? I still don't have that kind of money. This is just a small bit of Yuugi/Jounouchi fluff my muses came up with for me. I'm making up for what I'm going to put them through in Ordinary Day. Also, I think it's a bit obvious that the title muses have never been with me. Enjoy, and please review! BTW, the speech Yuugi's talking about at the docks, that really happened.

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A light breeze ruffled the grass at their feet as the sun was sinking slowly to the horizon and they were all alone. Jounouchi glanced over at Yuugi who was walking along beside him. The shorter boy was looking at his shoes as they walked and the silence was becoming unbearable. They used to be best friends that could talk about anything together. Now if they were alone, it was just one long highly uncomfortable silence. What the hell had happened?

Maybe coming to the park had been a bad idea. Well, it hadn't seemed like a bad idea at the time and thirty minutes ago there had been more people with them. Then Honda had seen Miho and had predictably gone chasing after her and Anzu had left shortly thereafter for some unknown reason.

Maybe the reason things seemed so uncomfortable between him and Yuugi was because everything seemed to be changing. The group was slowly splitting up. Mai had found herself a rich boyfriend and spent every moment with him. Bakura found himself a new best friend in Malik and Jounouchi really couldn't blame them. They both had been put through hell by the evil spirits inside their Sennen items. Honda was constantly chasing after Miho now that he had some spare time on his hands and was practically ignoring all of his friends. Even Kaiba appeared to have changed though that change was most definitely for the better in Jounouchi's mind. He was more pleasant recently; nothing like the soulless jackass that he used to be. Jounouchi attributed that to Isis. Kaiba spent almost all his time with her and there were even rumors that they were going to get married. If only things between him and Yuugi didn't have to change....

He sighed as he looked up towards the sky, placing his hands behind his head. He and Yuugi had almost been like brothers and now they couldn't seem to talk unless there was a third party there with them. He owed so much to Yuugi ; his freedom, his sanity, his life, even his very soul. Yuugi had always been there for him and Jounouchi liked to think that he had been there for Yuugi when he could.

They had been through so much together; from the Duelist Kingdom, to the Battle City, to normal every day duels. Through all that they had managed to remain the best of friends. It seemed odd that that was all going to end now that things were starting to get back to normal. It wasn't fair.

"A million yen for your thoughts, Jounouchi-kun?" Jounouchi stopped walking, blinked a few times, and looked down at Yuugi who was looking at him with curious purple eyes.

"My thoughts aren't worth that much, Yuugi," Jounouchi said, walking over to a swing and sitting down on it.

Yuugi stood there puzzled for a moment, wondering what was up with his friend's strange behavior. He hurried over and sat down on the swing next to the Jounouchi was on. "You're right." Jounouchi really hadn't been expecting Yuugi to agree with him and he almost fell off the swing as a result. Yuugi chuckled and smiled at him and Jounouchi couldn't help but smile back. Yuugi's cheerful mood was always infectious. "Actually, they're worth more than that but I'm not even sure I can afford the offered price." Yuugi set the swing in motion and looked up towards the sky.

Yuugi looked so cute, sitting there staring off into the sky, as if time had stopped while he waited for Jounouchi to answer. Jounouchi wasn't sure he could tell Yuugi exactly what he was feeling but he had never been very good at leading up to something so he decided to just say what he was thinking. "I was thinking about the way things used to be and how everything seems to be changing." He looked over at Yuugi, waiting to see what his reaction would be. Yuugi stopped swinging and was now looking to the side, avoiding Jounouchi's gaze. He continued, "I can't help but feel that things are changing between us too."

"Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi said, blushing a little. It was almost as if Yuugi wanted Jounouchi to stop but he wasn't done yet. There was still more he wanted to say.

"We were best friends. You gave me one of your star chips so I could go the Duelist Kingdom with you. Together, we showed all the other competitors what we were made of. We both made it to the finals and even though we had to duel each other, we still remained the best of friends. You even gave me the prize money so I could pay for Shizuka's operation." Yuugi blushed a little more at that. "You even helped me out during the Battle City. But now," he paused, groping for the words that would express what he wanted to say. "Now it feels like we're drifting apart; it's like I can't reach you anymore Yuugi. You always seem so distant and quiet when we're alone together."

Yuugi sighed and looked up towards the sky. The first of the evening's stars were just starting to come out, shining their light upon the earth. "Jounouchi-kun," he said softly, keeping his gaze on that one star. "Do you remember our duel on the docks, when Malik had you and Anzu under his mind control?"

"Not really," he reluctantly admitted. "Malik made it so I didn't really know what was going on."

Yuugi shook his head and Jounouchi could see the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about whenever you had freed yourself from Malik's mind control."

"Yeah," he replied looking towards the ground. That was a memory he wasn't likely to forget anytime soon. "It felt like waking up from a really bad nightmare, only worse because I didn't know where I was or what I was doing."

Yuugi turned to look at him with a sad smile and Jounouchi decided it didn't look right and that Yuugi should always be happy. "Do you remember our conversation?"

Jounouchi nodded as he thought back on it. It was one of those conversations that would be forever etched into his brain. "I was confused and asked you why we were fighting but you told me to forget about it because our fight was over. Then you said you used the Spirit Mirror so that you would have time to finish your words at last." Jounouchi gave a self-pitying laugh. "I didn't know what you meant by those words 'at last.' How was I supposed to know you were planning yourself for me. I wish I would have figured it our sooner but I only realized it once it was too late."

Yuugi nodded. "It's not your fault, Jounouchi-kun. It was what I wanted to do. Don't you remember what I said?" Jounouchi raised his head to look at Yuugi. He remembered, or at least he thought he did. He was fairly certain by now that most of it had been wishful thinking on his part. "Jounouchi-kun, you're not alone. You're the one who gives me courage. My important good friend. Jounouchi-kun, daisuki-da."

Okay, so maybe he hadn't been hearing things; unless he misheard what Yuugi said two times in a row. Yuugi really had told him daisuki. "That duel has been on my mind a lot recently," Yuugi admitted, blushing and once again avoiding his eyes. "That's why I've been so quiet around you lately. I've been trying to work up the courage to see what you thought. Things got really hectic after that day and we really never had the chance to talk about it. I was afraid you didn't feel the same way."

"Yuugi," Jounouchi said softly. How could Yuugi possibly think he didn't feel that way about him. It had realized he felt that way about Yuugi a long time ago. The very idea of not loving Yuugi was foreign to him by now. Yuugi lightened up his day; Yuugi made life worth living. Yuugi was everything to him anymore. There was no way to express in words exactly how he felt and Yuugi was looking was looking at him with those beautiful eyes, waiting for him to either say or do something.

Well, since he couldn't say how he felt, he would just have to show him. He leaned closer to Yuugi, diving into the depths of those gorgeous eyes. Yuugi looked into his eyes expectantly, closing them as Jounouchi's lips brushed his. It was more than either of them had hoped for or even expected and Jounouchi decided that sometimes change could be a very good thing.

~Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it ~