I made it! I actually got to chapter ten!!! And I definitely wouldn't have if it weren't for all the fantastic reviews because I would have just given this an abrupt ending simply from giving up way back. Be pleased with yourselves as you have helped me loads!
Right, this chapter ended up being so long that I'm posting it individually and as I'm not writing actively at this moment you'll need to wait a week for part 2 so you get constant drips of this stuff rather than alternating between gallons and a dry well. This is me planning ahead by he way so sorry for being evil. Review and make me happy though so I can write more through encouragement!
Speaking of help, I must thank Adrianna and Jerri for their input, and then thank Kari and Princess Zelda for reminding me to thank them! I'm pretty useless in that field but thanks guys!
I got a request from AnimeFly so I'm bringing in Ryou and Bakura. I know only a little about these characters, hence their lack of appearance in previous chapters, but I'll try my best. Just don't expect anything too amazing! Bakura is the insane spirit and Ryou is the polite one here. I find Bakura amusing because of his temperament so he should make more appearances in upcoming chapters or in the other story I'm planning to write after I've finished this one. Excuse any OOC-ness in either. I am ignorant.
On a side note, I'm starting to find it really hard to come up with these one-word titles. I have no idea why I'm sharing that as I'm supposed to be maintaining this visage of a high and mighty authoress who knows exactly what she's doing at all times... Sod it; I'm lying to myself. And I'm rambling. Again. Sorry!
Erm, there is a fair bit of swearing in this chapter so be warned. Well, it's me writing for Yami isn't it so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to read that?
Chapter 10: Oops
YVO
//Month nine and I'm quite surprised that I'm still alive. I'm pretty much uncomfortable all the time now and my moods are very, very unpredictable. Honda's increased the bulk of his strawberry runs accordingly and Joey is given me my space all the time. That being ten feet up from six. It rockets to thirty when I yell at him, which is decidedly less now as I promised to be nice.
I got fed up with their presence today as it was particularly hot and told Yugi to take them all and go to the beach. Yugi was extremely reluctant to leave me on my own all day but gave in when I threatened to tie him up and get Seto to drag him there tied to the bumper of his car. I just wanted some peace and quiet. It's a wonder what ten hours of sleep can do for your mood.
I was pleased that they all went out together for the day because when Yugi returned that evening they were all bubbling with excitement, interrupting each other as they relayed the details of the day. I understood very little of it all but apparently Joey had gotten dragged out by the current, Honda having to go out and save him.
Ryou turned up with Bakura too, which was good to hear as Yugi hasn't seen them in a long time. He said that it was particularly funny when Bakura threw a hissy fit because Ryou 'accidentally' dropped his ice-cream into his hair. Mai took a photo so I'm happy.
Naturally they were both surprised when Yugi told them what happening, particularly the reason to why I've gained a scary amount of weight. Well, Ryou was surprised. Tea said that Bakura started laughing maniacally to the extent that he was in tears in the sand. That's one of the reasons I'm glad I didn't go; I'm not sure my body could take the strain of me strangling the tomb-raider.
It's a shame that Ryou lives so far away from the rest of us as he is quite good company. He was reported to seem a little upset that he had been left out of the loop for so long when something as big, literally, as this was happening. He's promised to come by more often now that he's back from that trip he took with his family, not that I mind. I just hate the fact that Bakura is going to be tagging along whenever he comes.
Yugi went to bed a few hours ago, the rest of the happy group leaving just before then, but I'm staying up. Strange twinges are starting to pick up in my abdomen and they're keeping me awake, which, as you can tell, I'm not entirely pleased about. I'll try to sleep again in a little while but I doubt I'm going to get anywhere. Stupid pregnancy.//
****
"What are you doing up at this hour?" Yugi asked quietly, padding lightly over the tiled floor and dropping into a chair tiredly next to his Dark.
Yami ruffled his hair slightly, which didn't actually make a huge difference, before answering. "Cramps. Woke me up and now I can't sleep. Besides it's not that late, but you should be in a bed, especially after today."
Yugi grinned as the memories surfaced in his mind. "Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Why don't you have a warm drink and try to go back to sleep?"
"I tried that but it didn't work. In fact I think it's getting worse so I'll stay up a while longer and see if it subsides. If it doesn't I'll call the surgery and see what they recommend."
Nodding in approval at the admittedly wise course of action Yami intended to take, Yugi yawned broadly before standing up again, fully intending to go back to bed and recover from such a busy day. Pausing behind her chair, he lowered his head over her shoulder before asking hesitantly, "Can I..?"
Yami smiled in the dim light, turning her head to look at her Aibou directly in the eye. "You're always welcome Little Light, although I do not see how you can derive so much pleasure from simply feeling his movements."
"Well you're used to it. It's a bit of a novelty to the rest of us. Besides, it's pretty cool to feel something alive in you," Yugi replied with a grin, kneeling down beside the chair and planting a hand on the rather large expanse of her stomach.
He frowned when he felt something clench beneath his hands, muscle twitching and pulling slightly before relaxing entirely. Looking up to Yami in confusion, she merely shrugged and said, "Cramps" as if it were self-explanatory.
Frowning and staring at his hand on her stomach, Yugi's eyes grew wide as realization dawned, apparently far faster than it was going to on Yami. "Yami you idiot-"
"That was uncalled for," she huffed interrupting him.
"Those aren't cramps! Those are bloody contractions!"
She blinked at him owlishly before nodding with a small 'oh'. "I should call Seto shouldn't I?"
"I think that would be a good idea. How far apart are they? We can tell if we need an ambulance or if we can wait for Seto's car then," Yugi explained feeling a little unsettled at how quiet and unmoving Yami was being. Obviously she was rapidly going into some kind of shock, which was a bad thing.
"Uh, about half an hour, give or take. Call Seto and he can drive us. I'm just going to sit here and, yeah, sitting here sounds fine."
Nodding with a little worry in his eyes, Yugi left her at the table to make the phone call. After trying to rouse Seto to a conscious state he managed to tell him what was going on only for him to go deathly silent over the phone. Calling his name a few times he was met with a quiet "I'll be right over" before the line went dead.
Sincerely hoping that this wasn't some personality-defect epidemic, Yugi returned to Yami who saw still sat at the table. "Seto's coming over now. Shall I call the others and let them know what's going on?"
"Yeah, it could be a while. Company would be good," Yami replied her voice taking on a strangely higher pitch as the realization of what was happening actually began to sink in. //Oh Ra. I'm in labor. I'm going to wake up soon and this is not going to be happening. Shit. I hate hospitals.//
****
Due to the fact that she would likely be getting into a hospital gown pretty soon Yami hadn't bothered to change. The actuality that shorts and a long t-shirt wasn't going to keep her warm in the middle of the night had led to her being sandwiched between Yugi and Seto in his car for the journey just to share body heat.
Seto had obviously scrambled into clothes as his shirt only had two buttons done up and both of his shoes were undone, and minus socks, which she found quite amusing. Seeing the oh-so-aloof Seto Kaiba so disorganized and flustered was quite entertaining as well as distracting for her. Yugi was wide awake now having gotten into some clothes whilst waiting for the car to arrive but his hair was still an unruly mess and dark circles were beginning to form under his eyes, something which Yami was beginning to feel an uncomfortable level of guilt over.
Unable to take the silence any more and genuinely concerned over Yami, Seto tightened the arm he had around her. "Does it hurt much?"
Yami shook her head slightly. "No, not really. I didn't actually know what they were at first so I-oh hell that does hurt though,' she tapered off in a low voice, teeth clenching and her body curling slightly against the sensation.
Yugi took one of her hands whilst Seto took the other, both watching her face intently with concern as they waited for it to pass. It only lasted a few seconds before she fell back against the seat exhaling the breath she had been holding.
"Thanks. Urgh, this is just going to get worse isn't it?" she mumbled bringing a hand up over her face before running it through her hair, slightly miffed to feel that sweat was already forming on her skin.
"Yes, but then you'll have a little baby in your arms and it'll all be worth it," Yugi assured. He was feeling uncomfortable with his Yami being in pain and being entirely powerless to do anything about it. Judging from the look on Seto's face he felt the same way.
Yami nodded with a warm smile deciding that she was happier now that Yugi had said that. She frowned though when she felt another sensation that was not entirely new to her, blushing when she felt a dampness spread down her thighs. Offering Seto a small smile and an embarrassed apology, she was immensely relived when he told he not to worry about it.
Glancing down himself, Yugi clapped a hand to his forehead. "Yami, your water just broke. I'd get ready for those contractions of yours to start to feel a whole lot worse."
****
Much to Yami's dismay Yugi had been correct and she was practically screaming when they had gotten into the hospital and into one of the delivery rooms. Yugi had wisely pegged it with the excuse that he would wait for the others and guide them to the waiting room. In fact he was scared by the things that Yami had begun hissing, things that, although obviously in ancient Egyptian, sounded like curses and some of the finer profanity in existence at the time.
"If I survive this, I'm going to make sure that you can't do this to any woman ever again," she snarled at him whilst making a damn-good attempt to break his hand, his fingers turning white as she squeezed.
Seto seemed unconcerned by the threats, more concerned by the levels of pain that the straining form was radiating. Yami noticed his unalarmed state when she had caught her breath, puzzling over how he could actually still be in the same room as her with everything she had been saying.
"Why are you so calm? I'm threatening your life and masculinity," she asked in confusion, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
He just shrugged, bring up his free, still working hand to wipe some of her matted fringe from her brow. "I've hear that most women threaten their husbands during birth."
//Huh?//
"I'm sorry, could you just say that again?" Yami asked bewildered turning wide, shocked eyes up to his face. He seemed to blush and ducked his head so that she wouldn't see.
"That just came out wrong."
"Right."
They were prevented from further conversation when the doctor entered the room, the young man closing the door behind him and consulting his clipboard before giving them both a warm smile. Yami wanted to rip that right off.
"Well things seem to be moving along well," he said brightly before moving to the bottom of the bed, discarding the clipboard to the floor as he crouched down. "Let's see how far along you are."
Yami's eyes widened as she cottoned on to what he meant, particularly when he put a hand onto her knee when she failed to comply. Planting a foot on his collar-bone, she met his confused look with a hard glare. "Don't even try. I will harm you."
Sensing that Yami was going to continue to be a teensy bit uncooperative and unreasonable, Seto placed a hand on her shoulder and leant down to her ear. "It's actually required that he does that. Just ignore him and let him do his job."
Nodding slightly, Yami leant back and stared hard at the ceiling until the doctor stood again, jotting something down on his clipboard. "Well, your baby is obviously very eager to make it's appearance in the world; this might be one of the quickest births I've seen in my career."
"And how many have you timed then?" Seto snapped. He was feeling a little uncomfortable about the fact that the doctor delivering his son appeared only a few years older than himself. And he was a little stressed at the moment, which was quite understandable due to the constant death-grip Yami had on his hand.
"Sixty three, this one will be sixty four, so I'm well qualified. I'll be back in a few minutes and then you can start pushing," he assured already heading towards the door.
"Oh joy."
There was the confusing sound of shouts and yells coming from outside the room before something very, very bad happened. First, Joey slammed open the door as he bolted into the room shouting, "What'd I miss?"
Yami watched with a sense of doom as the door thwacked into the doctor's back sending him flying against the wall. His head connected solidly with the unyielding surface and with a rather dramatic 'thunk', he was out cold.
"Joey," she hissed in a warning sound, crimson eyes burning on his form. The teen had stopped short of the bed when he saw the doctor fall unconscious and was currently trying to figure out how many seconds he had to start running before Yami made a grab for his throat.
Pissed off to the very end of the scale now, Yami had launched herself at him without thinking, but instead of pummeling him into dust like she had intended, she screamed in pain and clutched the front of his jacket as another wave of agony tore through her.
Clutching her shoulders so as to keep her standing, Seto holding her waist from behind, Joey walked her back to the hospital bed and helped the father to lay her back down. When she had the sheet up to her waist again, he began moving back from his position of leaning over her. However, the hand that curled around his throat halted his progress.
Sweat beading on her features, Yami brought his face extremely close to hers and growled out, "When I can walk again, you and I are gonna sort this problem of yours out."
Eyes wide at the threat, Joey managed to pry her fingers off of his throat as she sunk down into another contraction, inadvertently cutting off his air supply. The second he took in a breath the lights flickered and abruptly died, plunging the room into total blackness. Moving to the window, Joey saw that a large area around the hospital had turned dark too.
"Must have been some kind of power-surge. It's taken out the whole block," he announced before leaving to hunt down another doctor and tell the others what he had just done to necessitate a new one.
"This is. Fan-fucking-tastic," she panted to herself in the dark.
//He's back on my list//
TBC
Joey has always been my most pleasurable tool for causing destruction and mayhem. Hot. Can't be asked to type. Luckily Parts 11-End are done so I don't have to bother. Part 11 next week. Don't hate me. Review.