Chapter 1 for the standard stuff that is needed for me to retain my clothes and personal assets. Ie; don't sue me. I am poor already. Hope you're enjoying this as is my first Yu-Gi-Oh fiction. Encouragement is greatly needed and, well, encouraged!

Chapter 3 : Announcements

YVO

//Damnit! How in the seven hells could this have happened?! Why?

I have done exactly as I was instructed; sat down and thought long and hard about the situation. I have deduced the following; First, I'm not having one of these abortion things that Mai described to me. I do not kill innocents, that much I am certain of. Secondly, I have not told, spoken to or even seen Seto, nor do I intend to until I have told the others.

Yugi suspects that something is wrong, pestering me almost constantly in an attempt to find out what exactly. I suppose he would be suspicious; I haven't been into my soul room since I found out and I'm out of the house more than usual. I don't intend to abandon my physical form at the risk of the child; I do not know if it could survive being in my metaphysical state

Mai came with me to the second appointment and I have her word that she will accompany me to the third on one condition; I have to tell Yugi. I should, I am well aware of this fact. He is my light as I am his darkness. He is part of me and has every right to know but it is difficult. I want Mai to come to the next appointment, particularly because some kind of scan is involved and I really do not like the sound of that.

That means that I have relatively little choice in the matter. I hope he takes this better than I did.//

****

It was getting late when Yami and Yugi went into the living area of the Game shop, their Grandpa staying behind to tidy away a few things before joining them later. Yugi dropped down tiredly into a chair at the table, yawning broadly as a result of such a hard day. They had been bringing in new stock for most of the day, the result being that almost every muscle he had was on fire.

Yami stood uneasily by the door behind his small counterpart, stomach forming into a tight lead ball as she screwed up her courage enough to move again.

Finally she moved to the opposite side of the table, easing her tired body into the seat and folding her hands on the worn wood. "Aibou, I have something I need to tell you."

Yugi looked up with interest at that, eyes widening to show the same. He frowned when Yami paused again, looking down at her intertwined fingers and biting at part of her lower lip.

"Yami? Is everything alright? You've been acting kinda strange lately. You're worrying me."

"I know and I don't mean to, Aibou," she replied instantly, reaching a hand out and placing it over one of Yugi's earnestly.

Yugi smiled at that a little. "So what do you need to tell me?"

Yami stared at Yugi for a good minute before answering, determined not to drop her eyes from his as she tried to form words. Finally they came, as if another had spoken them. She couldn't understand why she found telling this so difficult? Why did she feel like it was a confession?

"I'm pregnant."

There was a long pause during which Yugi blinked a few times, face unmoving. Finally he shook himself a little, hand still under Yami's.

"Oh. Congratulations, I think. Is it 'congratulations'? Or is..."

"No! No, it-it's congratulations. I think," Yami smiled a little despite herself, leaning back in the chair as she became more relaxed, her hand sliding back across the table and into lap.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me before Grandpa had you lifting all those boxes? It isn't good for you," Yugi asked seriously, concern bleeding into his voice.

"Because it was hard enough telling you just now even though I've spent most of the day rehearsing it. Mai knows too, and a doctor, but that's it."

"So the father doesn't know?"

"That is correct."

"When are you going to tell him?"

"When I can face him."

"Who is it?"

Yami's nose twitched in reaction to the question, eyes dropping to her lap now. Yugi was a smart boy and his mind was already clicking through possibilities since it seemed Yami wasn't going to answer any time soon.

"Seto?! At that dinner?" he exclaimed, a surprised smile slowly forming once the words had left his mouth, staring excitedly at Yami across the table.

"Yes, but he had as much to drink a myself so I do not believe he is even aware that there was an, um, 'incident'."

Yugi nodded and then fell silent in thought, mind turning over this information like a child sucking on a new sweet. "You should tell him."

"I should," Yami agreed, tipping her head to the side in a nod, fringe flopping into her face.

"But you aren't going to."

"Not right now! Telling you was difficult enough, but it was Mai's condition if she was to accompany me to the doctor's next week. I presume you will be joining me also?" she asked with a knowing smirk.

"Definitely! But first you're telling Seto. And I mean right now."

"Yugi? What the-?"

Before Yami could finish the question Yugi had gotten up, taken her arm and led her quite forcefully to the door, opening it, pushing her out and then closing it again.

"And you're not coming back in until you tell Seto!" he shouted through the wood. He was well aware that this was a very drastic and possibly dangerous way of getting Yami to talk to the Kaiba brother, but he knew Yami enough to know that she was stubborn. She would likely not tell Seto for weeks. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Fuming at the closed door, Yami knew that Yugi was as stubborn as she was and would not let him back into the house until she had done as instructed. Lip twitching as she tried to determine which of them was actually the darker half, she gave a small shout of surprise when she turned around and nearly stepped into someone.

"Hey Yami. Why you out here?" Joey asked, holding three piazzas under his arm, Honda stood beside Tea just behind him.

"Yugi threw me out," she replied lightly, noting the six-pack of soda Honda held and the stack of video cassettes in Tea's arms. "Sleepover?"

"Yeah. We saw you and Yugi working today and decided that you could both use a little down time," Tea began, shifting the videos that were beginning to slip from her arms.

"Tea's coming over soon too. It's a surprise. You coming back in?" Honda asked, stepping forward beside Joey.

//Mai's coming and I've just told Yugi. I can tell exactly how the next hour or so is going to pan out. I definitely do not want to be in that house tonight. Suddenly talking to Seto doesn't sound like such a bad idea.//

"No, actually. There are some things I need to attend to. I'll be back later," Yami declined rapidly, already moving around the group and walking quickly towards the street, fighting the urge to run very hard.

The trio looked after the hastily departing figure curiously before knocking on the door.

"I told you Yami! You are not coming back into this house until you talk to Seto!"

They exchanged confused looks before Joey shouted back into the door. "Uh, talk to Seto about what?"

The door snapped open and Yugi stepped back to let them inside, checking about the corner to ensure that Yami didn't nip in after Honda.

"So why does Yami have to talk to Seto? Did she finally cotton onto the fact that she's head over heels for him?" Tea asked, setting the videos down onto the table and taking the seat Yami was previously in.

Yugi gaped at her, Honda and Joey not reacting to the question at all as they dropped into the remaining seats. "How did you know? I figured I only knew because we're connected."

"Oh come on! It's so obvious! The only one of us who doesn't know it is her," Honda exclaimed, starting on the first pizza and managing to get away with both his hands still attached despite Joey's enthusiasm.

"Oh dear. Then things have just become far more complicated," Yugi mused, sitting in the last chair and grabbing a piece of pizza before Joey attacked it.

"What do you mean?" Tea asked just before the door opened, Mai strolling in happily with a bag of pop-corn, dropping it beside the pizza boxes before picking up a soda.

"What's going on?" she asked, sensing a certain degree of tension in the air as she clicked open the can. Looking at Yugi's face, she deduced what was happening fairly quickly and moved to stand beside him facing the others as a result.

****

Yami stood at the bottom of the path leading to Seto's front door for ten minutes before a security guard came up from behind her. She had expected some kind of guard about the grounds so she didn't start when he spoke.

"Mr Kaiba is waiting for you Miss Mutou," he said, walking around to face her. When her eyes widened slightly in surprise he chuckled softly before continuing. "He can see you on the security cameras. I've been ordered to escort you up to the house."

Nodding slightly and feeling like an idiot, Yami followed the guard up the path and stepped through the door that was opened for her, standing uneasily in the entrance hall as she waited for Seto to appear.

"Yami, how may I help you?" a familiar voice called down from the top of the stares, the owner of the house ascending slowly with a curious expression on his face.

Blinking, Yami nodded and came to the bottom of the stairs. "I, uh, need to tell you something. Can I sit down?"

A vicious businessman, Seto was still a gentleman, and extending a hand, he ushered her into the next room adjacent to the hall where the dinner had been held so many weeks ago.

They sat opposite each other on the twin couches until Seto broke the silence, waving away the butler after ordering two cups of tea. "Why are you here?"

Eyes narrowing in thought, Yami decided that the indirect route would be easier. "Seto, how much do you remember about that dinner I attended with you?"

Seto frowned at the question before answering honestly. "I danced with you, who looked very beautiful by the way, and then we drank a lot. I believe I shouted at my butler too after all the other guests left."

Ignoring the comment that she had looked 'very beautiful', Yami tried to direct his thoughts in the direction she wanted. "What about, after, the guests left? What do you remember after that?"

Dubiously, Seto paused before answering in a low voice. "I don't remember anything else up until going to bed."

//Then why the hell didn't you call?! I was out of my mind! Take some bloody responsibility!//

"Oh."

"What about you?"

Yami stared at him in confusion, blinking with mind reeling.

"How much do you remember?"

"I, um, woke up early and left. I don't actually remember anything but it was pretty obvious what had happened," she said, feeling laughter beginning to bubble up. That hadn't been as hard as she had anticipated.

"Oh. I wondered why you weren't there the next day. I would have called but I didn't know what you thought about the whole thing, and the company's adopting more clients soon so I haven't been able to get away to talk. Are you alright? You don't look well," he asked, standing and moving next to her on the couch, hand reaching up to touch her forehead.

Standing quickly, unsettled by the feelings his closeness invoked, Yami moved to stand at the end of the couch, arms crossing in her standard pose. "I don't feel well."

"You should see a doctor."

"I have."

"Oh. What did they say?"

//How in the hell did we get to that so quickly?//

Eyes snapping back to him, her mouth worked for a few seconds as she raced to think straight again, a hand moving to her stomach in an unconscious action.

Seto noticed the action and his eyes widened also, staring up at the significantly paler other. "You're-"

"Yes."

"In there?!"

"Yes."

"Because of then?"

"All correct."

He stood quickly then, standing infront of her and gripping her shoulders. "You have to get it aborted."

"What?! No! The decision has been made, I'm not," Yami snapped back defiantly, stepping out of his grasp.

"I can't be a father now! Between Mokuba and work I have no time at all! It would be unfair, and you cannot raise a child alone," he retorted, voice raising with hers.

"That's where you're wrong! I am not alone; I have Yugi, and Mai, and-"

"Oh, the 'gang'," Seto sneered, seriously thrown by the news and the fact that Yami wasn't conceding to his demands. "No offence, but I wouldn't trust them with plank of wood let alone a baby."

Eye or Ra glowing furiously in the center of her forehead, Yami had reached up and slapped him hard without even thinking, turning abruptly on her heel and storming out without looking back.

Slamming the door against the wall due to the fact that she opened it so hard, she left it to close after her and was halfway down the path when she paused, hands raising to her head and losing themselves in her hair. Looking back, in hesitation or to see if Seto had followed her, she had no idea, she growled as his last words replayed themselves in her mind.

Damning Seto to every hell and God she knew, Yami continued back down the path, the mystical eye dimming to nothing and the puzzle no longer glowing menacingly. Every muscle in her body held taunt and knowing that there were people back at the shop, she decided to take the long way home.

****

Yugi sensed Yami's return, getting up from the couch infront of the television where everyone was sitting engrossed in some film and looking out of the window. He was about to shout out that she was home when he saw her carry on past the shop, walking purposefully to the drainpipe at the edge and beginning to climb.

Stepping out into the kitchen, he picked up the remaining slice of pizza and slipped outside, walking to the bottom of the drainpipe and looking up, spotting the young woman lying against the roof tiles.

"Yami? I brought you out some pizza. I figured you'd want some since your appetite rivals Joey's now," he shouted up.

"Throw it up and then join me," Yami called back down, appearing on the edge of the roof.

As directed, Yugi tossed the pizza slice into the air, watching Yami's nimble hand snap out and snatch it before retracting back. Clamping his fingers around the plastic pipe, Yugi began to climb.

It took a few minutes to get to the top, during which Yami had gratefully devoured the proffered pizza and moved to the drainpipe, pulling Yugi the rest of the way up when he could be reached.

"I take it didn't go well," he said, lying on the tiles next to Yami as he caught his breath.

Yami's eyes remained fixed on the night sky as she answered. "He wants me to get an abortion."

"Oh Yami, I'm sorry," Yugi murmured instantly, hand moving to her shoulder in a comforting and supportive gesture.

"I am too. I'll be fine." She snorted slightly as a wry smile formed. "I think I bruised his face."

"Yeah?"

"He, started insulting you all. I wasn't exactly going to stand around and let him say it, was I? At least he knows not to mess around pregnant women now."

Yugi started laughing at that, Yami quickly joining in. It was quite a sight; two people laughing hysterically for no apparent reason on the roof of a games shop.

"Everyone else knows now?" Yami asked when they had quieted.

"Yeah. They took it pretty well. Joey fainted and Honda thinks it's cool. Tea, well, Tea always liked you so I don't think she knows quite what to think. Either way we're all behind you."

Yami stared at him with an odd expression on her face for a few long moments before smiling softly, eyes closing and head bowing to him. "Thank you. I'm afraid I'm going to need all the support I can get."

****TBC****

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