"Well?" Asked Kaiba, determined to get to the bottom of this foolishness.
"Calm down Seto!" Said Yami. "And will you please let that boy go?" He asked. Reluctantly Seto released his grip on Joey. Joey picked himself up and walked over to Yugi for protection.
"Now, what on earth are you thinking of Yami?" Said Seto, sitting himself on a chair as Yami offered seats to his guests.
"First of all Seto, what were you doing outside my door when you should be at the party?" Asked Yami.
"Your mother sent me to find you Yami. She wanted to speak to you. Luckily she hadn't noticed that you had left the party. I managed to find out that you had disappeared upstairs and I followed you here, only to find this guy, Joseph, outside your door. Obviously I grabbed him before he could cause any harm and that is when I came in here." Seto explained, a wary eye on Joey.
"I see. And what were you doing outside my door?" Yami said, turning to Joey.
"I saw Yugi disappearing up the stairs and I followed him because I wanted to talk to him. I was only outside the door for about a minute when this guy jumped on me!" Joey said angrily, looking at Kaiba with obvious distaste. "I swear I didn't hear anything, I was waiting for Yugi to come out!"
"Well, I believe you, for some strange reason." Said Yami. "Now if you will both leave."
"Hold on Yami, don't try to turn this around now." Said Seto shrewdly. "We have told our part of the story, now it is time to explain why you left the party with this boy, came upstairs and changed into each others clothes. Dare I ask what you two got up to in between these times?" Seto looked at the two boys quizzically whilst Joey stared at them open mouthed.
"Yuge, you've got a girlfriend. She's my sister! And you dumped her for this guy!" He said, enraged but taken aback at the same time.
"No, no, no!" Said Yami, but there was a slight chuckle in his voice. Yami went on to explain that he and Yugi were going to trade places for a week and live each other's lives without anyone else knowing. "And it is actually quite good that you two know about this plan now!" Yami finished. "Because when we are in our new homes we will need someone to help us cover up the lies and show us the ropes of the new life! You two can do that. Seto, you will tell Yugi everything there is to know about what I do, and you will help him to act like me. Joey here will do the same for me."
"Yami, I really do not think that this is a good idea. If you get caught." Seto began.
"Then you can tell everyone that it was just a harmless joke." Yugi said quickly.
"But your enemies sire. The danger of assassination." Seto said.
"But no one will know!" Said Yami. "Yugi hasn't been assassinated so why should I when I am pretending to be Yugi?"
"I have to disagree with you sire." Said Seto sternly. "The cons far outweigh the pros. If you are seriously going to go ahead with this then I will play no part in it. In fact I will go and tell your father."
"No you wont Seto!" Ordered Yami. "Or I will personally see that you never work in Egypt again. You will help me."
"Please Mr. Kaiba." Begged Yugi. "It is only for a week and if anything goes wrong then we can switch back right away!"
"Well." Said Kaiba, relenting. "I don't suppose it could really hurt."
"Thank you old friend." Said Yami, standing up. "Well we should get back to the party, we may as well put our plan into practise now. Joseph."
"Joey." Interrupted Joey. "Yugi never calls me Joseph."
"Joey." Continued Yami. "You will stay with me for the rest of the evening, telling me what I should do as Yugi. Seto, you do the same with Yugi, or should I say, Prince Yami!" Yami said, laughing.
The four made their way back to the party and walked through the large doors. They split into two pairs; Yami went with Joey whilst Seto led Yugi towards the throne.
"Sit down here Yugi." Whispered Seto. Yugi sat down nervously. "Not like that!" Seto said. "Straight back, legs together, hands on the arms of the chair and chin up. To be the prince you have to sit like one." Yugi corrected his position, already beginning to regret his decision to swap places with Yami.
Meanwhile Yami was standing at the edge of the hall with Joey.
"Now Prince.I mean Yugi. There are a few things I should probably tell you. Do you see that old man there?" Joey said, pointing out Yugi's grandpa to Yami.
"That old dwarf?" Asked Yami snobbishly.
"Yeah, well that is your grandfather and let me tell you now, he is the person who will sniff you out for a fraud first. Yugi and his grandpa share a tight bond and Yugi would give his life for that old dwarf, as you put it."
"Great!" Said Yami sarcastically. "Who else should I know?"
"You remember Serenity, my sister?" Asked Joey.
"The pretty one? Yeah, I remember her alright!" Yami smirked.
"Well, that is Yugi's girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Said Yami, shocked. "So, Yugi is a charmer is he?"
"No. They were friends for nearly fifteen years before they started dating. And don't get any ideas buddy, Yugi is too much of a gentleman to do anything with Serenity, and I wouldn't let him anyway. But I'm warning you, if you hurt her in any way." Joey flexed his fingers and cracked his knuckles loudly.
"Oh please, not the big brother talk!" Begged Yami scornfully. "Don't worry, I won't take advantage of your sister, I have a girlfriend too you know!"
"And this is your girlfriend, Lady Tea Gardener." Whispered Seto as Tea approached Yugi. "You have been going out with her for about seven months. She lives here in the palace as one of your mother's ladies in waiting."
"What should I do?" Whispered Yugi frantically as Tea came closer to them.
"Don't talk to her too much yet, you don't know enough about being Yami!" Whispered Seto urgently. "Brush her off if you can."
"Won't that seem terribly rude?" Asked Yugi.
"Not to her, that is how Prince Yami usually acts around her." Seto said sadly. "Now, talk to her briefly and then I will find an excuse for us to go somewhere else!"
"Yami." Said Tea in way of greeting, bowing as she reached his throne as a formality.
"Uh.Hi Tea!" Said Yugi, and felt Seto nudge him in warning.
"You promised me a dance Yami." Said Tea. "Can we dance now?"
"I'm afraid I can't dance." Said Yugi, but Seto nudged him hard. Apparently Yami could dance. ".Tonight." Said Yugi hurriedly. "I can't dance tonight because, I.fell down the stairs and my ankle hurts now."
"You fell down the stairs?" Asked Tea.
"Yes, terribly clumsy of me." Yugi said, but he saw that Seto was getting anxious; Yugi was being far too polite. Tea smiled. "Are you mocking me?" Asked Yugi suddenly, realising that he would have to show authority now or Tea would realise that something was up.
"What? Oh, no Yami!" Said Tea hurriedly.
"I should hope not. I do not like to be made fun of, especially by a guest at my family's party." Yugi frowned on the outside, but felt terrible on the inside. He hated being horrible, especially when Tea had really done nothing wrong.
"I'm so sorry Yami. I really did not mean to offend you." Tea said, and Yugi almost apologised when he saw tears in her eyes.
"Um, Prince Yami?" Interrupted Seto. "Perhaps you should go and meet some more guests?"
"Yes, I will, thank you Seto." Said Yugi, getting up. "Maybe I shall see you later Tea." He said as he walked away with Seto. Tea smiled at this and turned around.
"Lame!" Said Seto into Yugi's ear.
"I'm sorry, this is really hard." Yugi said.
"No, not that kind of lame. You fell down the stairs remember? So limp and no one else can dance with you. Actually that is quite a good excuse, we shall go and tell Yami's.your parents that you fell down the stairs and hit your head, and you wish to retire for the evening." Seto grabbed Yugi's arm and pulled him over towards where the King and Queen were standing.
"No way!" Yugi pulled his arm out of Seto's grasp. "I'll go up to bed, you tell them I've gone to my room because of my fall. I'm not experienced enough to face my parents yet!"
"Good point." Said Seto, and they parted. Yugi saw his grandpa and was about to call him when he realised that he couldn't. He wouldn't be able to see his grandfather for a whole week, and he couldn't say goodbye.
"This sucks!" Yugi muttered as he climbed the stairs once again, heading for Yami's room.
"Yugi! Yugi, it is time to go!" Called Mr. Mouto as he saw Joey and Yami standing at the edge of the hall.
"OK, here comes your grandpa, it looks like we all have to go home now." Said Joey. "Just don't say anything or you will give yourself away. I will have to tell you everything about the new you in the morning."
"And why should I not talk?" Asked Yami hotly.
"Hmm, I don't know." Joey said sarcastically. "Maybe because you will give yourself away in an instant?"
"How dare you talk to me like that?" Said Yami.
"But I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to Yugi. And that is how I treat him. Just trust me, don't talk if you can help it."
"What possible reason would I have not to talk?" Asked Yami.
"Umm, say that you fell down the stairs coming back from the bathroom, and your head hurts and talking makes it worse. That way you can go to bed early and not talk to anyone." Joey suggested, talking quickly as Mr Mouto, Mrs Wheeler and Serenity came towards them.
"There you two are, we have been looking for you everywhere!" Said Serenity.
"Where have you been?" Asked Mrs Wheeler.
"Hey Mum, umm.Yugi went to the bathroom, but he fell down the stairs and he hit his head." Joey lied, his ears turning pink as they always did when he told a lie.
"Are you alright Yugi?" Asked grandpa, putting his hand on Yami's shoulder. Yami was about to shrug him off when he realised that Yugi probably wouldn't do that.
"Yes Grandpa, my head just hurts. Talking makes it worse." Yami said, looking at Joey who winked at him.
"Well, you just stay quite then Yugi, and we will get you home to bed." Said Mr Mouto as he led Yugi and the Wheelers towards where their carriage awaited. Yami climbed in and silently said goodbye to his creature comforts. As they bumped off towards the poor side of town Yami looked out the window and cursed silently. What was he doing?
AN - That got a bit confusing! You just have to remember that Yami is called Yugi and people who don't know they have changed call Yugi Yami! More to come.and it will be good!
"Calm down Seto!" Said Yami. "And will you please let that boy go?" He asked. Reluctantly Seto released his grip on Joey. Joey picked himself up and walked over to Yugi for protection.
"Now, what on earth are you thinking of Yami?" Said Seto, sitting himself on a chair as Yami offered seats to his guests.
"First of all Seto, what were you doing outside my door when you should be at the party?" Asked Yami.
"Your mother sent me to find you Yami. She wanted to speak to you. Luckily she hadn't noticed that you had left the party. I managed to find out that you had disappeared upstairs and I followed you here, only to find this guy, Joseph, outside your door. Obviously I grabbed him before he could cause any harm and that is when I came in here." Seto explained, a wary eye on Joey.
"I see. And what were you doing outside my door?" Yami said, turning to Joey.
"I saw Yugi disappearing up the stairs and I followed him because I wanted to talk to him. I was only outside the door for about a minute when this guy jumped on me!" Joey said angrily, looking at Kaiba with obvious distaste. "I swear I didn't hear anything, I was waiting for Yugi to come out!"
"Well, I believe you, for some strange reason." Said Yami. "Now if you will both leave."
"Hold on Yami, don't try to turn this around now." Said Seto shrewdly. "We have told our part of the story, now it is time to explain why you left the party with this boy, came upstairs and changed into each others clothes. Dare I ask what you two got up to in between these times?" Seto looked at the two boys quizzically whilst Joey stared at them open mouthed.
"Yuge, you've got a girlfriend. She's my sister! And you dumped her for this guy!" He said, enraged but taken aback at the same time.
"No, no, no!" Said Yami, but there was a slight chuckle in his voice. Yami went on to explain that he and Yugi were going to trade places for a week and live each other's lives without anyone else knowing. "And it is actually quite good that you two know about this plan now!" Yami finished. "Because when we are in our new homes we will need someone to help us cover up the lies and show us the ropes of the new life! You two can do that. Seto, you will tell Yugi everything there is to know about what I do, and you will help him to act like me. Joey here will do the same for me."
"Yami, I really do not think that this is a good idea. If you get caught." Seto began.
"Then you can tell everyone that it was just a harmless joke." Yugi said quickly.
"But your enemies sire. The danger of assassination." Seto said.
"But no one will know!" Said Yami. "Yugi hasn't been assassinated so why should I when I am pretending to be Yugi?"
"I have to disagree with you sire." Said Seto sternly. "The cons far outweigh the pros. If you are seriously going to go ahead with this then I will play no part in it. In fact I will go and tell your father."
"No you wont Seto!" Ordered Yami. "Or I will personally see that you never work in Egypt again. You will help me."
"Please Mr. Kaiba." Begged Yugi. "It is only for a week and if anything goes wrong then we can switch back right away!"
"Well." Said Kaiba, relenting. "I don't suppose it could really hurt."
"Thank you old friend." Said Yami, standing up. "Well we should get back to the party, we may as well put our plan into practise now. Joseph."
"Joey." Interrupted Joey. "Yugi never calls me Joseph."
"Joey." Continued Yami. "You will stay with me for the rest of the evening, telling me what I should do as Yugi. Seto, you do the same with Yugi, or should I say, Prince Yami!" Yami said, laughing.
The four made their way back to the party and walked through the large doors. They split into two pairs; Yami went with Joey whilst Seto led Yugi towards the throne.
"Sit down here Yugi." Whispered Seto. Yugi sat down nervously. "Not like that!" Seto said. "Straight back, legs together, hands on the arms of the chair and chin up. To be the prince you have to sit like one." Yugi corrected his position, already beginning to regret his decision to swap places with Yami.
Meanwhile Yami was standing at the edge of the hall with Joey.
"Now Prince.I mean Yugi. There are a few things I should probably tell you. Do you see that old man there?" Joey said, pointing out Yugi's grandpa to Yami.
"That old dwarf?" Asked Yami snobbishly.
"Yeah, well that is your grandfather and let me tell you now, he is the person who will sniff you out for a fraud first. Yugi and his grandpa share a tight bond and Yugi would give his life for that old dwarf, as you put it."
"Great!" Said Yami sarcastically. "Who else should I know?"
"You remember Serenity, my sister?" Asked Joey.
"The pretty one? Yeah, I remember her alright!" Yami smirked.
"Well, that is Yugi's girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Said Yami, shocked. "So, Yugi is a charmer is he?"
"No. They were friends for nearly fifteen years before they started dating. And don't get any ideas buddy, Yugi is too much of a gentleman to do anything with Serenity, and I wouldn't let him anyway. But I'm warning you, if you hurt her in any way." Joey flexed his fingers and cracked his knuckles loudly.
"Oh please, not the big brother talk!" Begged Yami scornfully. "Don't worry, I won't take advantage of your sister, I have a girlfriend too you know!"
"And this is your girlfriend, Lady Tea Gardener." Whispered Seto as Tea approached Yugi. "You have been going out with her for about seven months. She lives here in the palace as one of your mother's ladies in waiting."
"What should I do?" Whispered Yugi frantically as Tea came closer to them.
"Don't talk to her too much yet, you don't know enough about being Yami!" Whispered Seto urgently. "Brush her off if you can."
"Won't that seem terribly rude?" Asked Yugi.
"Not to her, that is how Prince Yami usually acts around her." Seto said sadly. "Now, talk to her briefly and then I will find an excuse for us to go somewhere else!"
"Yami." Said Tea in way of greeting, bowing as she reached his throne as a formality.
"Uh.Hi Tea!" Said Yugi, and felt Seto nudge him in warning.
"You promised me a dance Yami." Said Tea. "Can we dance now?"
"I'm afraid I can't dance." Said Yugi, but Seto nudged him hard. Apparently Yami could dance. ".Tonight." Said Yugi hurriedly. "I can't dance tonight because, I.fell down the stairs and my ankle hurts now."
"You fell down the stairs?" Asked Tea.
"Yes, terribly clumsy of me." Yugi said, but he saw that Seto was getting anxious; Yugi was being far too polite. Tea smiled. "Are you mocking me?" Asked Yugi suddenly, realising that he would have to show authority now or Tea would realise that something was up.
"What? Oh, no Yami!" Said Tea hurriedly.
"I should hope not. I do not like to be made fun of, especially by a guest at my family's party." Yugi frowned on the outside, but felt terrible on the inside. He hated being horrible, especially when Tea had really done nothing wrong.
"I'm so sorry Yami. I really did not mean to offend you." Tea said, and Yugi almost apologised when he saw tears in her eyes.
"Um, Prince Yami?" Interrupted Seto. "Perhaps you should go and meet some more guests?"
"Yes, I will, thank you Seto." Said Yugi, getting up. "Maybe I shall see you later Tea." He said as he walked away with Seto. Tea smiled at this and turned around.
"Lame!" Said Seto into Yugi's ear.
"I'm sorry, this is really hard." Yugi said.
"No, not that kind of lame. You fell down the stairs remember? So limp and no one else can dance with you. Actually that is quite a good excuse, we shall go and tell Yami's.your parents that you fell down the stairs and hit your head, and you wish to retire for the evening." Seto grabbed Yugi's arm and pulled him over towards where the King and Queen were standing.
"No way!" Yugi pulled his arm out of Seto's grasp. "I'll go up to bed, you tell them I've gone to my room because of my fall. I'm not experienced enough to face my parents yet!"
"Good point." Said Seto, and they parted. Yugi saw his grandpa and was about to call him when he realised that he couldn't. He wouldn't be able to see his grandfather for a whole week, and he couldn't say goodbye.
"This sucks!" Yugi muttered as he climbed the stairs once again, heading for Yami's room.
"Yugi! Yugi, it is time to go!" Called Mr. Mouto as he saw Joey and Yami standing at the edge of the hall.
"OK, here comes your grandpa, it looks like we all have to go home now." Said Joey. "Just don't say anything or you will give yourself away. I will have to tell you everything about the new you in the morning."
"And why should I not talk?" Asked Yami hotly.
"Hmm, I don't know." Joey said sarcastically. "Maybe because you will give yourself away in an instant?"
"How dare you talk to me like that?" Said Yami.
"But I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to Yugi. And that is how I treat him. Just trust me, don't talk if you can help it."
"What possible reason would I have not to talk?" Asked Yami.
"Umm, say that you fell down the stairs coming back from the bathroom, and your head hurts and talking makes it worse. That way you can go to bed early and not talk to anyone." Joey suggested, talking quickly as Mr Mouto, Mrs Wheeler and Serenity came towards them.
"There you two are, we have been looking for you everywhere!" Said Serenity.
"Where have you been?" Asked Mrs Wheeler.
"Hey Mum, umm.Yugi went to the bathroom, but he fell down the stairs and he hit his head." Joey lied, his ears turning pink as they always did when he told a lie.
"Are you alright Yugi?" Asked grandpa, putting his hand on Yami's shoulder. Yami was about to shrug him off when he realised that Yugi probably wouldn't do that.
"Yes Grandpa, my head just hurts. Talking makes it worse." Yami said, looking at Joey who winked at him.
"Well, you just stay quite then Yugi, and we will get you home to bed." Said Mr Mouto as he led Yugi and the Wheelers towards where their carriage awaited. Yami climbed in and silently said goodbye to his creature comforts. As they bumped off towards the poor side of town Yami looked out the window and cursed silently. What was he doing?
AN - That got a bit confusing! You just have to remember that Yami is called Yugi and people who don't know they have changed call Yugi Yami! More to come.and it will be good!
