-Yu-Gi-Oh!-
Bojou :Longing:

By: Alima

Disclaimer: I don't own it, so you can't sue me. I'm typing it up at the library anyway, so it's not like you can take my computer away, because it's not mine! Yu-Gi-Oh! is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and all those other people... not me though...
The poem at the end is from Oh! My Goddess!

A/N: I used the Japanese names because the English names are kind of dorky!

Please, R&R! Flames welcome!

"Because we are so close, I fear that... I... I might be..." Mutou Yugi began, turning his glowing crimson face away from the mirror, unable to look at himself. He lifted his eyes to look at the Millennium Puzzle, which was lying on his pillow. Yugi very rarely took it off, especially after he almost lost it forever in a fire. He once gave it to his best friend, the ex-gang member Jonouchi Katsuya, to prove the strength of his friendship, which the Millennium Puzzle unofficially represented. After Jonouchi regained his mind from Marik's control, returned it to Yugi, who had to admit, deep in his heart, that he secretly hoped it would be returned. Ever since he became aware of the spirit within the Egyptian artifact, he didn't know if he could ever stand to be without his presence for very long.

Yugi sighed, running his hand through his black and magenta hair, his fingers playing with the tips of his golden bangs. Maybe that was why he set Yami Yugi and his childhood friend, Mazaki Anzu, up on a date; to make the object of his desire that much more unobtainable. Looking in the mirror again, he met his own violet eyes.

"After all that has happened... after all that we've put each other through... I'm just glad we're still together," he whispered to his reflection, pressing his palm against the cool glass. "Why must these things be so hard to say?" Yugi leaned forward and pressed his forehead against his mirror. He closed his eyes again, unable to meet eyes so like his... Yugi shook his head and left the mirror to sit on his bed. He picked up his most treasured possession and brought it to his lips, as he had done so many times before.

He never knew how he would explain this behavior to anyone if he were ever caught kissing his Millennium Puzzle, and if Yami Yugi had any knowledge of Hikari Yugi's actions, he never let on. Yugi put his object of power on desk and got dressed for bed. He knew he could visit his yami when he should be sleeping, and he knew the pharaoh could do the same. He also knew that Yami Yugi was generally aware of his anxieties. He left his room to finish preparing for bed.

"I've never been afraid of what he thought of me before, so why should I start being scared now?" he asked the reflection in the bathroom mirror after he finished brushing his teeth.

As he turned to leave the bathroom, he heard the heart-breaking voice of his other half. "Are you afraid of me?" it asked softly. Yugi spun around to confront the image in the mirror. A face so like his own, only older, with hardened features due to the heartbreak of his own unknown life three thousand years ago.

Yugi smiled tentatively, "No, I have been afraid, but I can't fear you... Never can I fear... someone... I..." Someone I love... he switched off the light and slammed the door behind him as he ran out of the bathroom without finishing his thought. When he reached his room again, he threw himself down and cried himself to sleep.

Yami Yugi wandered around inside the puzzle, taking the same million paths within that he had taken so many times before. Paths that led to nowhere. Hikari Yugi was thinking quite loudly, but all Yami Yugi could understand was that Yugi's heart was troubled. A while ago, before he appeared in the mirror, the interior of his lair grew quite warm, and a red glow appeared from... somewhere. The pharaoh knew he didn't even know half of the puzzles ancient secrets, and the only conclusion he could come to was that this was another of the mysteries he had yet to solve.

His host was being unusually distant lately, and he knew it had nothing to do with their few arguments about gaming. Yami Yugi still did not understand why Hikari Yugi would set him up on a date with a girl he thought of only as a friend. He knew his innocent host had liked Anzu for a very long time, and he was always encouraging Yugi to ask her out. He sensed that this was part of the turmoil within the younger Yugi's mind.

He remembered Yugi's pain when he thought he had failed in his self-imposed duties to protect the Millennium Puzzle, and when he swore to help regain the pharaoh's memories. And if no memories were found, he promised to share his own. He knew he would like it very much to stay with Yugi, but his heart was pulled in two directions. Yami Yugi sat down and pondered his dilemma for a while before he realized it had gotten quieter.

"Yugi must be asleep," he spoke out loud just to break the silence. The spirit projected himself from his soul room to look upon his host's sleeping form. Smiling inward, he 'sat' on the bed to get a closer look at the young one's restful face. He reached for Yugi's face. wishing he could actually touch him as he cupped the little face in his hands. I can't feel myself touching him... I wonder, can he feel me? He leaned in closer, closing his eyes as he brushed his lips across Yugi's forehead, again cursing his insubstantiality. Without a physical form, I can hold him all I want and never once touch him.

Shaking his head, he stood again to gaze at his best friend. Yugi knew everything about him that he knew about himself, which wasn't much, considering how three millennia could deteriorate the most vivid of memories. Yami Yugi let out sigh as he let himself fade back into his soul room.

We are close strangers
We are distant twins
You are with me always
Guardian of Shadow
You are with me always
Guardian of Light
When Light fails
Let Shadow protect Light
When Shadow fades
Let Light protect Shadow
We are entangled souls