Rowan: I really like writing this story! It's either this, or Life's Little Treasures, or Yami*Bakura fluff in my notebook, so I choose this. Hope you enjoy!

Siran: There's no Jou*Yami fluff! You promised these peeps Jou*Yami fluff!

Rowan: Hmm, yes you're right. Well, I think I'll try to get some in this chapter.

Thank yous:

Escachick: In a way Kaiba's helping Jou, but of course he's got his own hidden agenda in it all. He wouldn't help Jou just to help him, now would he?

Disclaimer: Once upon a time, a brilliant person created an amazing anime/manga called YuGiOh! It went on to become extremely successful and made this person very rich. Unfortunately, that person is not me.

Not me: That's right! I created it! I'm a genius!

Rowan: I meant that I, Rowan, did not create it!

Warning: Um, some shonoun-ai, which is boy/boy fluff and such. If you don't like, I suggest you leave now. And if you don't (leave even though you don't like), well, don't say I didn't warn you. Also, there may be some OOCness in the story.

AN: In this story, Jou is a reporter for the school newspaper, and Mai is in Domino High School. Also, everyone is fifteen, Shizuka's fourteen, and Mokuba's nine.

A Love Denied

Chapter 6: Party Poopers

---

Yami paced the floor of the game shop anxiously. 'Where are they? Haven't they found Jou yet?' Just then, the shop door opened and Yuugi slipped inside. "Hey Yami."

"Any sign of Jounouchi?" Yami asked.

"Some good news…and some bad news. The good news is, Shizuka and I found a letter from Jou."

"And the bad news?"

Yuugi sighed. "You'll find out in a minute, once the rest of the gang arrives." As if on cue, Shizuka, Ryou, Bakura, Honda, Otogi, Mai, Anzu, Malik, and Marik entered the store. "Hey guys. You got here quick!"

Yami jumped up and ran over to Shizuka. "Do you have Jou's letter?" he inquired apprehensively.

Shizuka nodded. "Here you go Yami," she said as she handed him the note.

"'Dear Shizuka, Yami, Yuugi, Mai, Honda, Anzu, Ryou, and everyone else. I have been offered the job of a lifetime in America, and I accepted it. I will be gone for the next six years and probably won't be able to visit. I'll be in touch when I can, but it won't be often. Please don't come looking for me or worry. I'll be fine. Really, I will.

'On a different note, I love you very much Shizuka and am always with you, if not physically, in your heart. To Yami, as my best friend and Yuugi's yami, I expect you to watch out for my little sister and make sure Yuugi doesn't break her heart! Yuugi, hurt Shizuka (not that you will) and I'll be back in a flash to take care of you! Mai, I hope you find happiness with someone who'll love you and be able to satisfy your lavish tastes. Honda, um, don't get into any trouble. I'd hate to have to bail you out of jail when I get back!'"

"Hey!" Honda exclaimed.

"Ssh!"

"'Anzu, I wish you and Yami the best. And to Ryou, I thought you'd stay a virgin the longest out of all of us. Guess I was wrong. Well, I wish only the best for you and Bakura now and in the future. Well, I gotta go now! P.S. Otogi, if you're ever going to tell, tell now before it's too late.' That's all."

Everyone sat in silence, questions running through their heads, questions that mainly consisted of, 'Why did Jou leave?', 'What is this job he got?' and 'Ryou's not a virgin anymore?'. Finally, Honda broke the silence. "Tell what Otogi?"

Otogi blinked. "Uh…I think Jou means that I should tell who my crush is." 'Though how Jou knew, I don't know. Kaiba didn't tell him, did he?'

"Who is your crush then?" Mai asked.

"Well…my crush is gorgeously tall…"

"That rules out you Yuugi!" Malik said, laughing.

"Well it's too late anyway if it was me! I'm already Shizuka's," Yuugi replied, smiling at his girlfriend.

"Well in that case, that would rule out Yami, Anzu, and apparently Ryou and Bakura as well. So who does that leave?" Honda voiced.

"Me, Malik, Mai and Honda," Marik replied.

"Give us another clue Otogi!" Anzu requested.

"Well…he's very sweet when he wants to be, but definitely a manly man."

'Hmm,' Honda thought. 'Could it be he likes me? It makes sense, doesn't it? But how would Jou know that I was planning on asking Mai out Friday? Only Kaiba knew that!' "Uh, I need to go for a walk guys. See you around," Honda informed his friends before stepping outside.

Otogi glanced at his watch. "Yeah, I need to get going too. Bye." Otogi walked outside and quickly followed Honda.

~*~~*~

Jou gazed out the window and sighed. This was it. He was leaving Japan and everyone he ever knew. Jou didn't even know that much English! But somehow he knew he would survive this…ordeal, for lack of a better word.

Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, Jou fell into a deep sleep.

He was walking down a dark street during a rainy day, tears mingling with the water falling from above. A familiar voice called his name. "Jou! Jou, where are you?" The voice was now at the other end of the street, and coming closer to the blonde, who now recognized the voice as his beloved's: Yami. "Jou! Wait up! Jou!"

Jou tried to ignore the voice, but how could he? How could he ignore that birdsong that made his knees go weak and his stomach fill with butterflies? Yami caught up to him in no time. "Jou! Are you alright? Jou, speak to me!"

Jou turned his tearstained face to Yami. "Oh, Yami, I…"

"I'm sorry Jou! I should've known you'd react like this! We should've broken the news to you gently. Please forgive me!"

"Why?" Jou asked hoarsely.

"You're right! Why should you forgive me? Me, a 5000 year old Pharaoh who comes and steals the girl of your dreams! If you want, I won't marry Anzu! I'll let you have her. You deserve to be with the one you love!"

Jou gave Yami a confused look. "But, Yami…"

"No buts about it! Go on, you marry Anzu. You start a family together. You deserve that! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine as long as you're happy Jou!" Yami cried over the roar of the rain.

"But Yami, I don't want to marry Anzu! I want to-"

Yami slapped his forehead. "Of course you don't want to! Why would you, when you know the child she's carrying is not yours! I'm so stupid!"

"No, Yami! You're not stupid! You're -" Jou tried to say.

"No, I'm a horrible horrible person! Jou, please forgive me! Please! And marry Anzu, I insist!"

"Yami, listen to me! I don't want to marry Anzu! I want to…" Jou was about to say, 'marry you,' but when he saw the tears in Yami's eyes and the love shining through them, he couldn't bring himself to say it. "I want to see you happy, and you're happy with Anzu. So marry her. I insist. If you don't, Anzu will be left a single mother, raising her child on her own, and we can't allow that. So you must marry her!"

Yami smiled. "Really Jou? Oh, thank you, thank you! Will you be my best man?"

"No, make Yuugi your best man."

"Okay Jou. Thank you." Yami hugged Jou for a second, a second in which Jou was able to catch a whiff of Yami's unique and special scent. Then he got up and ran through the rain back to the game shop and his future bride, leaving a heart-broken Jou in the streets all alone.

~*~~*~

"I like the park. I come here when I want to think. It's peaceful and quiet here. What about you Honda? Do you like the park?"

Honda nodded, looking down from his vantage point on the hill before speaking. "Otogi, were you talking about me back at the game shop? Am I your crush?"

Otogi walked right up next to Honda on his hill. "What do you think?"

"I think…I think I'd be very flattered and happy if I were."

Otogi smiled. "Well, consider yourself flattered."

Honda turned his face towards Otogi. "Well, you're my crush as well."

"So it works out, doesn't it Honda?"

"Call me Hiroto."

Otogi nodded. "Then call me Ryuuji."

"Alright, Ryuuji…so what do we do now that we've confessed we like each other?" Honda asked.

"I think most people do this," Otogi said, pulling Honda down to his level and kissing him softly. Honda's eyes slid closed as Otogi deepened the kiss, and his hands slipped unbidden around Otogi's waist.

They pulled apart and smiled. "We should do that more often Ryuuji."

"We will. We'll have plenty of time to do that, but first I want to know something. Why did I have to tell you that I love you before it was too late?"

Honda grinned lopsidedly. "Well, I was planning on asking Mai out on Friday. Though how Jou found out, I have no idea. Kaiba's the one who saw it in my agenda."

"Yeah, Kaiba was the only one to know that I had a crush on you. So either Jou's really good at knowing these kind of things, which I doubt…"

"Or Kaiba told him."

"But why would he? Unless…"Otogi said.

"Unless it was Kaiba who offered Jou that job in America!"

"But why would he?" Otogi mused. "Kaiba hates Jou!"

"Only Kaiba knows."

~*~~*~

Yuugi sat on the edge of his bed and sighed. 'I know I said I wasn't going to use the Millennium Tauk to see the future, but I have to know.' Yuugi pulled the gold necklace out and placed it around his neck.

Jounouchi was talking on the phone, his face animated as he spoke. "How is everyone? Is Shizuka still with Yuugi? And what's been going on with Ryou and Bakura lately?" A pause, then, "C'mon Mokuba! You may only be fifteen years old, but you must have some news!" Another pause, then, "Really?! Ryou and Bakura are getting married? Since when? A year? Why've they waited so long?" Jou's face darkened slightly, then he replied, "Oh, so they've been waiting on me? Thanks for the news Mokuba. Could you put your brother on the phone please?" Jou tapped his foot impatiently. "Oh, he's 'busy' is he? Well, tell him that I'm coming back to Japan. I will not miss Ryou and Bakura's wedding." Jou listened to Mokuba then said, "I don't care if the whole world depended on me being in America! I'm coming back! If he's too busy with Mai to talk with me now, then it's his fault that I ruined his business plans." More listening. "I wouldn't care if I was Atlas [1] and the planet was resting on my shoulders! Ryou and Bakura are my friends and I'm going to see them get married!" More talking from the other end. "Oh hi Seto! Yes, yes I understand. I'll take the first plane back. There's a jet ready for me? Thank you and I'll be in Domino as quick as I can. Oh, I didn't interrupt anything, did I? Right, well, say hi to Mai for me!"

Yuugi blinked as the vision faded. 'That was …interesting. Judging by what Jou said about Mokuba's age, this must have come from six years in the future! And I think I know who Jou's boss is! It's Kaiba! I should've known!' Yuugi sighed as he put his Tauk away again. As he started to go downstairs for dinner, a thought occurred to him. 'Ryou and Bakura are getting married in six years! If only Mokuba had said something about Shizuka and me!'

~*~~*~

"Yuugi?" Shizuka whispered as they sat in the park and watching the sunset.

"Yes Shizu buttercup?" Yuugi replied with his pet name for his girlfriend of one year and three months, causing her to giggle.

"Yuugi, doesn't your Millennium Item show the past, present, and future?"

Yuugi nodded. "Yes, it does."

"Do you think you could see what drove Jou to leave Domino?" Shizuka requested.

"I've tried Shizuka." Yuugi shook his head sadly. "But the one thing the Tauk won't show are visions that have anything to do with love. [2]"

"Love? Why not?"

"Because love is unpredictable, just like the future. Certain events can change a person's mind or heart, and therefore change all the following events after that," Yuugi explained.

"But what does that have to do with Jou leaving?" Shizuka asked, puzzled.

"My theory is that Jou was in love with someone but couldn't have them and so was driven to misery. If only I knew who it were that Jou loved!" Yuugi cried in frustration.

"Yuugi, don't be so hard on yourself. If the Tauk can't know or show anything pertaining to love, how could you possibly?" Shizuka soothed.

"But Shizuka, I'm supposed to be the people person! I'm supposed to be able to see a person and know what they're about! And I just can't figure Jou out!"

Shizuka smiled sadly. "Well, I don't understand him anymore than you do, and he's my brother!"

Yuugi nodded. "True. I guess…I guess I'll just never understand Jou."

~*~~*~
"Happy Graduation guys! We're finally out of high school!" Honda shouted as he popped open the champagne bottle and served everyone present.

Otogi shook his head as Honda got to him. "Isn't champagne a bit much Hiroto?"

Honda laughed. "No! I've been looking forward to this day for thirteen years and now that it's finally here, I'm gonna celebrate!"

The gang, minus Jou of course, had gathered at Otogi's house for an end-of-the-year celebration. Music was blaring from huge stereo systems and Yuugi, Shizuka, Yami, Anzu, Mai, and Kaiba were dancing on the freshly polished wood floor. Honda and Otogi were standing on the sides, one getting himself drunk on champagne and the other standing by just in case he succeeded. Ryou and Bakura were standing near them, not doing much of anything, considering that earlier that day they had had an argument.

Flashback

"Bakura, I said no!" Ryou shouted, thoroughly annoyed.

"But why not? I think it'd be fun!"

Ryou shook his head. "Because if we spiked the punch and got everyone drunk enough to get it on with each other, one, Seto Kaiba would kill us the next morning, two, Otogi would kill us in the morning, three, Yami would banish you to the Shadow Realm, and four, Jou would kill us when he found out we in essence got his sister laid. And of course Jou would have killed Yuugi before, which would anger Shizuka and Yami, which would anger Anzu, who would probably go on about something and somehow connect it to friendship and annoy the hell out of everyone and then they'd want to kill us. The only one who wouldn't want to would probably be Honda and he'd emulate us. That's why."

Bakura pouted. "Fine then! Be that way!"

Ryou glared. "I think I will be that way thank you very much!"

"Then I'm not talking to you!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!" Ryou yelled. The two bishounens scowled at each other for a moment, then stomped away.

End Flashback

Yuugi, dancing with Shizuka, noted the lack of love between Ryou and Bakura. 'They look really angry with each other! What if…what if they break up because of this? Then they won't get married and Jou won't come back!' Yuugi thought in a panic. 'I know I'm not supposed to alter destiny, but I have to interfere or we may not ever see Jou again!' Yuugi looked across to Shizuka. "Sakura blossom?" he whispered.

"Yuugi, why do you keep calling me flowers?"

Yuugi smiled. "Because you're as innocent as a daisy, as delicate as a Sakura blossom, as radiant as a buttercup, and as beautiful as a rose. I have no need of a garden, for you are my garden!"

Shizuka giggled shyly and blushed. "How poetic!" she exclaimed.

"Shizuka, you are a million romantic poems wrapped up in rose petals and white silk," Yuugi replied.

"Oh Yuugi! But what was it you wanted?"

Yuugi looked across the room to Ryou and Bakura. "Remember that vision I told you about?"

"The phone one?"

"Yes. Well, it seems to me that Ryou and Bakura are very angry with each other right now, so much so they might break up! And if they do…"

"Jou may never come back!" Shizuka exclaimed, catching onto what Yuugi was saying.

"Yes. We have to get them to forgive and forget."

"But how?"

Yuugi stopped dancing as he tried to come up with an idea. "I know! We could play a game!"

"A…game? What kind of game?"

"Truth or Dare or something…it might work."

"We had better hope so."

Twenty Minutes Later

Otogi sat down in his spot next to Honda in the circle. "Alright, well we're playing 'Spin the Bottle', with bottle courtesy of Honda…"

Honda was pouting next to his boyfriend as he put the empty champagne bottle on the floor.

"Yeah, so…," Otogi continued, "Ryou, why don't you go first?"

Ryou shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He spun the bottle and watched it intensely as it twirled round and round, finally stopping and pointing at…Bakura.

"I'm sorry, but I don't kiss strangers," Ryou said.

Bakura glowered. "Well neither do I!"

"Hmmph!" Ryou said, getting up and walking away. Bakura snorted and walked in the other direction.

Yuugi sighed. 'Okay, so that didn't work. On to Plan B…talk to them.'

~*~~*~~*~

[1] Atlas, from Greek mythology is said to hold the world on his shoulders for all eternity.

[2] Not true, I just made it up. It makes the story interesting that way.

Rowan: This chapter was getting way too long, so I split it into two parts.

Siran: Practically six pages! Wow, this chapter is long!

Rowan: Didn't I just say that?

Siran: Yes.

Jou: *who out of the blue appears* I was hardly in this chapter! And there was no Jou*Yami fluff!

Rowan: Hehe, well, you see, the fluff is in the second part of this chapter.

Jou: Oh.

Rowan: So, did you like the chapter?

YGO Cast: Uh…

Shizuka: I loved it! Yuugi sweet-talking me so much! Oh, he's soo romantic and poetic!

Yuugi: *blushes*

Rowan: Glad you liked.

Bakura: Why is it you hardly mention me and Ryou as a couple until we're arguing?

Rowan: It's 'Ryou and I' and it's because you guys weren't important until then.

Bakura: *glares*

Rowan: Well, how did the readers find this update? Please tell me in a review! Thanks!