Well, here it is. The last time that Yami ever saw his parents. . . enjoy.

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"It started the very next day," Yami began.

Crimson eyes blinked open, pushing the embrace of sleep from their glimmering depths. As much as the warm haze of dreariness was always welcomed when it was Yuugi that he was wrapped around with, he needed to get up and steel himself ready for the day ahead of him. Sighing with only slight procrastination, he disentangled himself from Yuugi's arms and climbed gracefully out of bed.

He was reaching for his pants when he heard Yuugi yawn behind him, slowly sitting up in bed himself.

"What are you doing up so early, love?"

He frowned, brow furrowed. "I have some things to pick up at my old place."

Yuugi's face paled, realizing that all of Yami's clothes, his computer, his books, all were over in his room at his parents' house. In any other situation, they would have been left alone, but Yami had been the one to pay for all of those things, and he had well over four thousand dollars invested in that room.

He just had to get past the sure-to-come speeches from his parents alive.

Yuugi got up from the bed just has Yami had finished dressing. Wrapping him up in a warm hug, he held on tightly. "Be careful," he said firmly, wanting his partner to come home in one piece. "Use our truck to haul all of your stuff. You know where to keys are."

Nodding, he gave a chaste kiss and left.

He had tried to get out early, before his parents could get their bearings together and realize that all of the things still left in their previous son's room would soon be confiscated.

The large home was dead silent when he pulled up, tension flowing eerily out of the very siding of the building.

He didn't even bother knocking. That formality would only leave him out on the front porch, demanding his things to be returned to him.

Opening up the front door, he closed it softly and walked into the house, straight for his old room.

"W-what do you think you're doing here," he heard his mother splutter from behind him. He turned sharply around, his eyes now as steely has his mother's had been the night before. "I have some belongings I need to pick up, Mrs. Takachi. Forgive the intrusion, but I will not be long."

For a brief moment, she flinched at the detached tone his voice, slowly becoming disgusted with the nerve that he displayed.

"You will not touch a thing in this house, it was bought with me and my husband's money. It is ours. I will call the police if you dare to even think you can take anything."

He had to control himself from growling. "If you would like, I can show the authorities myself the receipts of my purchases. I paid for everything in that room at the end of the hall. I will take it home with me." And with that, he sharply turned on his heal and stalked down the walkway.

His door had been slammed shut the night before, he noticed. Probably by his father. The paint around the door looked chipped, and splinters of wood littered the floor.

Falling to his knees in front of his bed, he fished out some of the luggage he had bought the year before for a school trip to Hawaii.

"Yami, what the HELL do you think you are doing?" The angry voice of his father drifted into his room. Yami pulled all of the clothes out of his closet, hangers and all.

"I am retrieving my belongings. Mr. Takachi. I will not be long." He stuffed it all haphazardly into his luggage.

"Just look at what you're doing to your mother and me! She's been crying all night long! How could you disgrace us in such a manner? I thought we raised you better than this!?"

Yami didn't even bother to look at him. Instead, he began collection his books off the shelves around his room. He put them into another one of his suitcases.

"Don't you even touch that radio and computer," his father spat. Yami whirled around.

"Those are MINE. I will take you to court, Mr. Takachi. I do have the signed receipts to back me up."

The funny thing was, his father knew that this was no idle threat. Yami had every intention of taking him to court for the expensive electronics if it was necessary, and he also had the funding to do so. Yami, wisely, had been working for a while, and had begun to invest in the stock market. Surprisingly enough, he was doing exceedingly well, with an excess of thirty thousand American dollars now saved up. That was going to be paying for his college, and part of Yuugi's.

He zipped his luggage and began to heave it down the hall towards the waiting truck outside.

He could hear his mother crying in the kitchen. "How could you do this to us?! How? Y-you perversions make me sick," he heard her spit in his direction. A little part of him crumbled inside, but outside he remained strong and determined.

He put the things in the back seat of the truck, not even pausing before he headed back inside for the stereo and computer.

"Don't you even care what you're doing to us," his father greeted him at the door. Yami didn't even look at him. If he were to go off on them now about not caring, he probably wouldn't be able to stop. Didn't they see that they had hurt him by rejecting him?

No, he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. They had always thought that they were the soul purpose that their son was alive, happy, and sane all of these years. He was going to show to them today that such ideas weren't true when in fact, he didn't even need them at all. He could get by on his own. He was much stronger than they thought.

He heaved the computer all of the way from his room to the truck, and then the stereo and then the computer monitor. He needed to be careful with that, he spent a lot of money on that flat screen so that he wouldn't get a headache typing all of those papers for school.

Finally, he had nothing left in that house that belonged to him. He took one final look at the people that had given life and birth to him, kept him fed and clothed since he was young. The very same people that had instantly, could instantly disown him from one 'mistake' as they would probably put it. So much for unconditional love. They looked at him as he stood tall in the doorway of their home, Susan looking aged and weathered, his father looking enraged and flabbergasted all at the same time. "I am sorry for the loss of your son, Mr. And Mrs. Takachi. I hope you have a wonderful life." He turned and left without another word spoken between them.

By the time he got back to Yuugi's, his iron mask had melted, revealing his now battered heart and depressed mind. He knew, deep down, that they never would have accepted him, but he still hoped that it would have been different.

When he walked into the place that he would be sharing with Yuugi and his Ji-chan for the next three months, he noticed that it was quiet and peaceful. Half of him expected Yuugi to jump out of the corner and shower him with kisses, sighing with relief that Yami was alright and back in one piece.

However, right now, the last thing he wanted was someone smothering him. Distance from people sounded like a nice idea at the moment.

Yuugi wasn't at the front door.

Instead, he found his young love in the living room, sitting on the couch and reading a book. Looking at the young man, Yami realized that without him, he would be alone and abandoned by the very people that were supposed to always be there for him. Without Yuugi, he'd be out in the cold, without any sense of support from another.

Walking over with shaky legs, he collapsed next to the young man, grabbing him in a tight embrace, only now letting his tears fall. Silent, Yuugi set his book down and returned the hug, sharing in his lover's pain.

Yumi looked at her father sadly. "I'm so sorry, Papa. That had to be so hard."

Yami waved his hand, brushing the subject aside. "It's in the past. Crying now won't do anyone any good."

"What. . .what happened when your friends found out?"

Yuugi smiled. "They were a bit more understanding. They found out in college. Now that was fun," Yuugi began.

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Well, ready for some laughs now?