Dreamaway ~ Where do you go when you dream?
Author's Notes: I really appreciate all the wonderful reviews I get and I would really love to respond to all of them but I don't want the response to reviews to be longer than the story. So, instead, I'll just write a general response. Yes, Yuugi/Jounouchi is absolutely adorable and I hope you all enjoy how their relationship changes. And also, of course I'm going to continue or else this chapter wouldn't be here. Sorry this took so long but I have so many stories to keep up with. Thanks for all your words of praise and I hope you all continue to enjoy the story so much.
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Yuugi smiled at Jounouchi from across the room, ignoring the gossip of the students around him. It was such a welcome sight to see Jounouchi in school for several days in a row. Jounouchi caught sight of him, his lips curving upward in a small smile, his eyes softening as he looked at him, golden bangs falling across those eyes. Yuugi waved at him, inviting Jounouchi to come join them, secretly just wanting to be closer to him. Jounouchi shook his head, turning away as Anzu came to stand in between them. "Hi, Yuugi!" she said cheerfully.
Yuugi smiled at her briefly, trying to glance around to catch sight of Jounouchi. However, he was gone and with a small sigh, Yuugi turned his attention to Anzu. "Hello, Anzu."
Yuugi sighed again as Anzu sat down next to him. "Yuugi, I was wondering if you wanted to do something tonight?"
"Sorry, Anzu, but I already have plans," he told her. "I have to go." He stood up, dodging around the milling students to make his way to the hallway. He caught sight of a mass of golden hair, and he immediately set off in that direction, using his small size to his advantage as he weaved in and out among the crowd. He soon caught up to his taller friend, grabbing ahold of his calloused hand with both of his. "Jounouchi-kun, where do you think you're going so fast?"
Jounouchi smiled down at him, and Yuugi beamed back, sadly dropping his hand. There was a far away look in Jounouchi's mahogany eyes as he looked at his friend. The look was a slight twinkle deep within that was barely perceptible. "I…" he started, blinking away the tear that was forming in the corner of his eyes. Yuugi closed his eyes, waiting for the lie he knew was coming, the lie he needed to hear. The lie never came. For a few moments, Jounouchi stood there looking at Yuugi, lips parted as they struggled to find the words.
Yuugi cautiously opened his eyes, looking curiously up at Jounouchi. "Jounouchi-kun?" he whispered softly. Jounouchi shook his head, closing his eyes as he turned away. Yuugi realized he wasn't going to get an answer and, accepting this fact, he looked sadly to the floor. When Jounouchi gave him lies, he knew it was only because Jounouchi cared about him and wanted to protect Yuugi from the truth. Yuugi wasn't dumb; he had come to that conclusion a long time ago. He could the lie in Jounouchi's eyes; the regret that came from having to lie to his closest friend. Knowing Jounouchi wasn't feeding him the lies anymore only made Yuugi ponder about the state of their relationship.
'Could we really have drifted that far apart?' Yuugi wondered, blinking slowly. He remembered all the good times they had together, all the times they had looked out for each other, and all the times Jounouchi had shown how much he really cared. It was a side of him he rarely showed to people, preferring instead to be quite content with his tough-guy exterior. Therefore, when Jounouchi showed him how he cared, he was sure he did it with the upmost sincerity. Yuugi had felt privileged to have been one of the few who was on the receiving end of Jounouchi's tenderness. He swelled with an emotion he could barely describe every time Jounouchi had shown that special side of him, the treasure of the sun-god.
He refused to believe that they were no longer as close as they once had been. If anything, all the experiences should have made their special bond stronger and more sacred. However, Jounouchi seemed to be drifting farther away from him, becoming distant, moody, and nearly always lost in thought. Furthermore, he kept disappearing, the very thing Yuugi feared the most. He was unsure what he would do if one day Jounouchi disappeared forever. Never to come back again to laugh in the wind or give his best friend a quick hug when he thought no one was watching? Yuugi was determined to make sure that dreaded event never happened; yet he didn't know how to begin when he didn't have the courage to ask for the truth from his best friend.
He once again lifted his eyes to Jounouchi's, violet meeting soft mahogany. The look Jounouchi was giving him gave Yuugi the impression he was silently asking for forgiveness. At the same time, there was something else hidden within those deep eyes, a pleading question that Yuugi could neither understand nor interpret. However, staring up into those eyes gave Yuugi some answers. "Jounouchi-kun, if you're not busy, would you like to come over and spend?"
Yuugi had surprised himself with the question, and indeed, Jounouchi looked a little taken aback by the unexpected. Once recovered, he smiled softly down at Yuugi again, the distant look returning to his eyes. "Sure, Yuugi, if you think it's alright with your grandpa."
"I'm sure it will be," Yuugi responded, smiling back at him. The good news was, when they were alone together, Jounouchi was mostly his normal self though occasionally he had his lapses. Perhaps Yuugi could use their time to find out answers about Jounouchi and himself.
Since Jounouchi had to go get some of his things, Yuugi had time to go to his house and warn his grandfather they were having an extra visitor for dinner and breakfast. Still, Yuugi was a twinge nervous about leaving Jounouchi's side fearing his friend may decided to pull another one of his famous disappearing acts after all. Much to his ultimate relief, Jounouchi arrived about an hour after school, looking a bit ruffled but thankfully in one piece. After they dropped Jounouchi's things in Yuugi's room, they returned to the living, sitting on the couch.
Yuugi's grandfather joined them, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, wielding a very sharp-looking knife. "Well, Jounouchi, always nice to have you here. Yuugi tells me you'll be staying all the way till breakfast."
Jounouchi gulped nervously, looking Yuugi who was positively beaming at his friend's arrival to Yuugi's grandfather who was literally scowling at the arrival of Yuugi's friend. "Thank you for letting me stay here, sir," Jounouchi said, inclining his head in the old man's direction. "You are so gracious to serve me your food and allow me to stay in your house even though I am so lowly." Yuugi's grandfather snorted, walking away with the knife still in hand. Jounouchi turned his attention to Yuugi. "Why doesn't your grandfather like me anymore?" Yuugi shook his head, deciding it would be better if Jounouchi didn't know why his grandfather had changed his feelings towards the blonde. It was a touchy subject; one Yuugi did not feel like discussing at the moment, no matter how much he longed to. Jounouchi shrugged, turning his attention to other things instead. "So, Yuugi, you got any other plans for this weekend besides hanging around with a loser like me?"
Yuugi shook his head, laughing lightly. "No, not really." He smiled over at Jounouchi, listening to the sound of his grandfather making dinner in the kitchen, mumbling curses that sounded like that were directed at Jounouchi. Jounouchi caught his eye, smiling broadly. Yuugi was glad when Jounouchi smiled; those smiled meant to him that Jounouchi was content and happy.
After dinner, where things seemed to be quite tense between Yuugi's grandfather and Jounouchi, the two friends retreated to the safety of Yuugi's room. Jounouchi sat cross-legged on the floor while Yuugi pulled the chair out from underneath his desk. He wasn't going to ask Jounouchi what his plans for the weekend were; he wasn't sure he necessarily wanted to know what the answers were. They sat there talking for hours, discussing duel monsters, gossiping about people at their school, but never once did either breach the subject of Jounouchi's personal life. The only time they had gotten close to the matter was when Yuugi asked his friend if he had heard anything from Mai recently.
When Yuugi finally realized it was getting extremely late, he excused himself from Jounouchi's presence to go get changed, leaving Jounouchi sitting in the middle of Yuugi's bedroom floor. Jounouchi looked casually around the room, noticing the little differences between Yuugi's room and his own. For one thing, Yuugi's room was clean. Everything was so neat and organized. If his room ever looked so nice, he had either died or moved out. Sighing, he stood up to get changed into his pajamas. Yuugi was too good to him, allowing him to spend the night like this. Being at Yuugi's certainly much better than having to worry about his father. Yuugi, on the other hand, would never even dream about harming him.
He heard the sound of softly falling footsteps behind him, and smiling, he turned around to face Yuugi. Yuugi smiled back, crossing the room to sit down on his bed, after which he chose to stare at the ground. After a moment's hesitation, Jounouchi sat down next to him. Yuugi lifted his eyes to his, blushing when he realized how close they were but not pulling back. Though Yuugi could feel Jounouchi's breath on his face, he was far more interested in staring into those mahogany eyes, so deep and full. "Yuugi," Jounouchi whispered softly, and the smaller boy could have sworn he had gotten closer to him. "Goodnight," he said quickly, pulling away and lying down on his side with his back to Yuugi.
Yuugi sighed, reaching over to hit the light switch. He turned back to Jounouchi, watching him peacefully as his blonde friend fell asleep, rolling onto his back. "Where do you go when you dream, Jounouchi-kun?" Yuugi asked softly when his friend smiled in his sleep. "I'd like to be there."
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