Love Among Friends

Chapter 15: Cherry Blossoms



Yugi let out a strangled cry and everyone looked at him to see what was wrong.Before anyone knew what had happened, Yugi had fled. Yami pulled away from the kiss and pushed Kaiba away.

"Yugi!" he called at the disappearing figure, but Yugi either did not hear or refused to hear. "Please, come back!" he said in a whisper as Yugi disappeared from his line of vision.



'I knew I shouldn't have done it...' he thought angrily. ' I knew something bad would happen.' Yami fell to his knees and hid his face in his hands, refusing to answer anyone and growling if someone tried to touch him.

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Yugi ran down countless streets and past countless people before he finally stopped, gasping for breath.He looked around at his surroundings and found he had run all the way to Domino City's public park.

The sun had already started to set, but the few motion activated lights along the path illuminated the flowers that were planted along the sidewalk. Everyone that normally hung around there like picnicking families and children playing frisbee with their dogs had gone home long ago. He shivered at the icy, brisk wind that swept around him. Yugi hugged himself tightly trying to retain all of his body hit.

'Stupid' he cursed himself. 'I didn't bring my jacket with me....but then again, who knew I end up running away from the one person I loved most?'

Yugi realized that his 'secret' place, the one place where he could be alone and think things over, the place not even Yami knew about, was nearby. Looking around suspiciously, he dropped to his knees and crawled under a mulberry bush. After a few moments of struggling through the lush, thick leaves of the undergrowth, a dirty, tear-stained Yugi made his way into the clearing.

It was just as he remembered it, a small secluded clearing that he had found after his parents death. The water from a small waterfall trickled down rocks and made their way into the park's pond. The clearing was surrounded by cherry blossom trees, which was one of the reasons he loved it so much. He went over to the waterfall, and cupping his hands, he collected water which he used to wash his dirty, tear-stained face. After drying his face with his shirt, he sat beneath one of the cherry blossom trees, with his back against the trunk. He rested his head on his knees as he tried to come to grips with his current situation.

Yami had forgotten to close their mind link, so Yugi had felt his eagerness and passion while kissing Kaiba. He had known for a while now that Kaiba had a crush on his yami, and Yugi had believed wholeheartedly that Kaiba's infatuation with Yami would eventually fade away. If anything, it must have gotten stronger. Maybe Kaiba had seduced him when they were in Yami's bedroom....Yami would probably choose the young CEO over him, he should have seen this coming. He buried his head in his arms, and soon fell into an exhausted sleep.

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Yami was kneeling on the ground, leatherclad knees in the mud, still in shock. Suddenly, he remembered that the dare had been Bakura's idea. He jumped up and started heading toward Bakura, cracking his knuckles and malevolent smile. Bakura noticed that the pharoah seemed different..very different, and he knew his tricks were no match for the power of an angry Yami. Bakura retreated, making sure to always keep at least one person between him and Yami.

After a couple minutes, the silence was interrupted by Jou.



"Why are ya wastin' time wit' em?" he questioned. "Aren't ya gonna get Yugi?"

A small yelp was heard as Seto lightly cuffed the blond.

"What was dat for?" Jou whined.

"I wanted to see the tomb robber get beat up for once." Seto answered malevolently.

Bakura growled menacingly and started to head his way, but was distracted by a kiss from his hikari.

"Just leave Yugi to Yami...He'll bring him back, I know it." Seto finished, winking at Yami as he leaned over to steal a kiss from the blond.

That was his cue, he noted grimly. Yami sprinted in the direction he saw Yugi heading. After unknowingly wandering the same streets Yugi had, he sensed his light's presence in the public park. As he neared the bushes guarding the clearing, his puzzle tugged him off the path and through the bushes. Spitting leaves and mulberries, Yami brushed himself off.

A quick glance around the clearing revealed a small boy with tricolored, spiky hair curled into a ball at the base of a young cherry blossom tree. As he neared the sleeping boy, he noticed that some of the blossoms had fallen from their places on the tree and landed in his hikari's hair. Yami quickly curtailed the distance between them and gently raised Yugi's head off his knees, so that he was looking directly in his eyes.

Although the freshman's eyes reflected the bitterness of betrayal and distrust, he didn't resist his dark's grasp because in his heart, he believed there was a logical explanation for his yami's actions. Yami shook his head, disgusted at Yugi's willingness to listen. He had broken the boy's heart, yet Yugi would probably take him back with a simple "I love you."

Yugi was so naive to the ways of the world, and Yami's purpose was to protect him from harm. Yugi would do anything for anyone, even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness. Although he had been thinking of Yugi the entire time he was kissing Kaiba, Yugi hadn't sensed that. Now Yami would tell him the true reason he did what he did.

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