Disclamer: Still on my Christmas list.
Two weeks had passed since the sleepover at Anzu's house, and Atemu's feelings had only grown darker and harder to control. He'd gotten over his cold, and come down with the flu in return. It was a week before Christmas Eve, and the ex-pharaoh's sudden sickness was showing no signs of going away, leaving him utterly depressed.
Every night he stayed up well past midnight until he cried himself to the sleep he was scared to experience, because he was afraid he'd wake up one morning to find that he'd killed Yugi accidentally.
He shivered as an icy breath of wind hit his back, and turned from his seat on the couch towards the direction of the uninvited disturbance in his comfortable, relaxing silence, the side door. Yugi quickly closed it seeing his yami shivering, having just come in from school.
"Hey 'Temu."
"Hello, Yugi. How are you?" he asked hoarsely.
"Um... I'm all right. I'm just wondering if maybe I need to ask YOU the same question."
"What do you mean, aibou?"
Yugi set down his backpack and walked over to where Atemu lay on the couch. He sat down on the floor and looked deeply up into the older boy's eyes.
"Atemu, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"I don't think so, 'Temu. You look horrible, your voice is terrible, and you don't eat anymore."
"I'm just sick. It'll go away in... well, a while."
"No, it's different. You never talk, you haven't dueled in... weeks, you don't hum that Egyptian song-thing to yourself anymore, you haven't been getting straight A's in school like you usually do, and... you never smile. I don't like it, and I know something's wrong."
Atemu coughed and shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "It's just the flu. Were you in a particularly good mood the last time you had the flu?"
"No, but-"
"I'm fine, Yugi."
"NO YOU'RE NOT, AND YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN TO ME! ALL YOU DO NOW IS MOPE AROUND, DOING NOTHING EXCEPT WHAT YOU'RE TOLD TO DO, LIKE YOU DON'T HAVE A LIFE! YOU NEVER TAKE ANY RISKS ANYMORE, YOU NEVER DO ANYTHING EXCITING, YOU DON'T BREAK ANY RULES, AND I CAN'T EVEN GET YOU TO DUEL WITH ME! IT'S LIKE YOU'RE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON, AND YOU'RE MAKING ME MAD! ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU'RE THIS RULE-ABIDING, QUIET... BORING PERSON! THAT'S NOT 'FINE,' ATEMU, THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG! I JUST WANT TO HELP, AND YOU'RE INSISTING THAT YOU'RE FINE! DO YOU KNOW HOW STUPID THAT IS? EVERYONE'S WORRIED ABOUT YOU ATEMU, ESPECIALLY... especially all the guys. You're avoiding everyone now. You never want to do anything fun anymore." Tears welled in the boy's eyes as Atemu stared in disbelief.
"Yugi-"
"I don't want to talk to you. Anzu's right. You DON'T love anything anymore." He grabbed his backpack from the floor and ran up the stairs. A few seconds later the sound of a slamming door could be heard and Atemu buried his face in his hands and cried, not able to hold it back any longer. He didn't hear anyone enter the room, so a light tap on his shoulder made him jump a mile from the couch in fright. He jerked around to get lost in deep blue orbs.
"Atemu... what's wrong?"
"Anzu, I... how long have you been in here. How much of that..."
The brunette sat on the edge of the couch and held one of his hands.
"Your hand is freezing."
"..." Atemu tried not to cry, but he couldn't help it. More tears spilled from his bright ruby eyes as he looked up at the girl. He turned away from her, face pressed against the back of the couch as his body shook with quiet sobs. He felt a cool touch on his cheek as his face was slowly turned around, the two teens' eyes meeting.
"Atemu... what happened to you?"
"What do you-"
"This is not you. What happened? How come you've been avoiding the whole gang as much as you can lately? Did anyone say anything to hurt you-"
"No. It's... it's not that... You have no idea-"
"Then tell me. I want to know. I want to help. Atemu... I hate looking at you like this... You're usually the most outgoing of all of us, and now... you're this. What's wrong?"
"I- I can't tell you." Something in his throat closed off, not allowing any sounds except a fresh wave of uncontrollable sobs to escape the bounds of his mouth.
Anzu took both of his tan hands in hers and looked closely into his eyes. "Could you show me? I just want to understand why you've been acting like this."
He couldn't look away. She had him trapped. He tried to control an urge he had, but it was no use. She'd told him to show her, and he couldn't hold back even a speck of emotion any longer. It hurt him too much. His actions were out of his control as he softly kissed the girl on her lips and pulled away slowly, fighting to regain discipline over his body.
Anzu's face burned as he pulled away softly and fell back on the couch. Realizing what had just happened, she gasped.
"Atemu... Did you mean that?"
His lip quivered and his crimson eyes brimmed with salty water as he nodded silently. Brushing violently at the offending tears, he looked up into her eyes. "I- I'm sorry if I offended you with that, Anzu. I just... I haven't been doing things with everyone because... I really do like you, Anzu, and you see, I know Yugi does too, and I just didn't want to hurt Yugi by asking you out before he did, even if you said no... I've had to keep my shadow magic from releasing my emotions in the form of hungry darkness, and it's just thoroughly exhausting... I'm so sorry I've hurt all of you. Funny, I was trying NOT to hurt you, but it ends up being that I did, just in a different way..." He sniffed and swiped at his nose with the back of a hand, and Anzu handed him a tissue from the box on the coffee table.
"Atemu... I can't believe it. Do you really... do you actually like me so much that it hurt you in that way?"
He nodded, cheeks tomato red as more previously contained tears fell in torrents from his eyes, leaving soaking trails down his face in their wake.
"Shh... don't cry. Please don't cry..." She hugged him tightly as he continued to whimper softly, planting a light kiss on his cheek. He suddenly pulled away from her embrace, eyes wide. He brushed over the spot tenderly with a finger as Anzu blushed.
"Was that-"
"Atemu... even if Yugi had asked me before you, I... I wouldn't have said yes. I couldn't have. There's only one I would agree to."
Atemu felt his heart soar as she leaned forward to hug him again, but he suddenly pushed her away. "Anzu, I don't want to get you sick. That would not be a very fun Christmas."
"Well if you have to suffer through the best season of the year, so will I. The heck with it."
He smiled. "Are.. are you sure? Once I kiss you, you're subject to all manner of disgusting flu germs that I really don't want to give you... and if you let me kiss you I doubt I'll be able to help but hug you which will probably make me cough, resulting in you getting sprayed by-"
"I think I can handle it."
He propped himself up uncomfortably as they inched closer to one another. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he did the same, hugging her carefully and delicately around the middle. Just as their lips were about to meet, a WHAM could be heard from the direction of the door leading into the kitchen. Atemu sneezed as the two hurriedly detached themselves from each other's embrace in order to see what the noise was.
"That was lucky. I would've sneezed on you... Yugi... Oh no." Standing in the doorway was none other than Yugi. The crash had been the door as he slammed it shut behind him.
"A-Atemu? Anzu? W-What were the two of you..."
"Yugi, I can explain-"
"No!" With that the short boy turned tail and ran back up the stairs to his room, for the second time that day. Atemu rubbed his temples as a headache from the loud noise hit him full-force, causing him to see stars. He closed his eyes for a brief moment in a meditative state. The two sat in silence for a few minutes until heavy footsteps could be heard descending the stairs of the game shop and Sogoroku Mutou entered the living room.
"Is what Yugi just told me true?" he asked shortly, vicious violet eyes penetrating his grandson's even harsher crimson.
"What did Yugi tell you?" Atemu asked.
"He told me he'd come downstairs to meet Anzu because she was supposed to come over to start on a project with him and that he found the two of you... sharing a bit of a special moment. Is that true?"
Atemu's voice broke with tears as he answered. "Yes Jii-chan."
Anzu also began to cry, Atemu reaching up and rubbing her back soothingly from his lying-down position. "Anzu, don't cry. It's my fault."
"It is no one's fault," said Sogoroku firmly, coming around the brown couch to face his grandson, kneeling down and putting both hands on the boy's shoulders. He held the once-pharaoh's cardinal-hued gaze. "You need to talk to him about this. I don't blame you for anything, but Yugi... you need to talk to him. To explain. He's hurt, Atemu."
The boy sighed and lifted himself up weakly from the couch, wobbling a bit as he got used to the feeling of walking. "Is he in our room, or yours?"
"Yours, I believe."
Atemu shivered and walked through the kitchen and up the stairs, coming to a stop before the door to the two spiky-haired boys' room. He knocked softly. "Yugi."
"What do you want?"
"I only want to talk to you."
"You were perfectly fine with forcing me from the room when you were having trouble controlling your magic."
"That's what I want to explain to you. Please listen to me, Yugi-"
"Why should I?"
"Because... Please, will you just let me in?" He didn't need to be 'let' in and they each knew it.
"Fine."
Atemu nudged the door open, entering the room and closing the door tightly again. He didn't particularly wish for this conversation to be overheard. Yugi was lying stomach-down on his bed, face in his hands.
"Yugi, I-"
"Why did you do that, mou hitori no boku?"
Atemu's heart tore at the clever usage of his old nickname. "Yugi, I did that because... I did that because I... I love her."
"Thanks for that, friendly friend." Atemu was shocked. He'd never seen Yugi act this way before. It angered him.
"I didn't exactly have any control over it, Yugi-"
"YOU DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH CONTROL TO SAY, 'GEE, AM I HURTING ANYONE BY DOING THIS?'"
"AS A MATTER OF FACT, I DIDN'T! YOU HAVE NO IDEA-"
"I HAVE A GOOD ENOUGH IDEA TO KNOW THAT YOU BACKSTABBED ME WITHOUT EVEN A THOUGHT! I LOVED YOU AND TRUSTED YOU WITH THAT SECRET, ATEMU, AND THEN YOU WENT AND USED IT AGAINST ME! SOME FRIEND AND MENTOR YOU ARE!"
"I TOLD YOU, I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL OVER WHAT HAPPENED!"
"AN ALMIGHTY PHARAOH CAN'T EVEN CONTROL KISSING THE GIRL HIS BEST FRIEND LIKES?"
For a second silence thickened the air as Atemu processed what his beloved aibou had just said.
"There are some things even a pharaoh can't control, Yugi. But I'm shocked. I thought you were able to think of me as more than just a master of shadow magic and a boy king. I thought you trusted me as a friend, a regular teenager. I am a regular teenager, Yugi. I can't believe you overlooked the fact that maybe, just maybe, I could be going through the same things as you are. Technically I'm only a matter of months older. I just can't believe it." He turned sharply and left.
Yikes. I really need to cut down on the angst a little.
You flatter me, Yamitea 4eva!! And if you liked the kiss in the last chapter... I'll bet you liked this one even more, eh? I am a sap, completely and totally. I know, I know! You reviewers can really make an authoress feel GUILTY, ya know that? I'm starting to not wanna write for guilt of picking on poor 'Temu... um... feh. Thanks for the support!
norestar-angel, I'm glad you like it! Wadda ya think of this one? Enough fluff or too much angst and sap? I tinkie someone's in luv too... ;)
SpiritPuppyLuvrs, I'm glad you think it's cute! This one was a bit too angsty to be cute, but the story in general was designed to be. Will I be able to chat with you online any time soon?
I'm so happy you like 'em, Ksaturn! I feel loved! Just one thing: Which ending did you think was 'awesome'? I haven't finished any yet.
Ninqe, was the quote that freaked you out the one where he says that they're not sure how easily Atemu could kill someone if he was really angry? Cuz that one freaked a few of my friends out... hehe. Yes, all toasters and packages of cocoa and all pizza sauce and... too many more things to name shall fear him forever and always, for all eternity! I have no shame, causing him so much pain... I'm gonna go cry in a corner because of guilt now. Call me when you want the next update. And good job on fouling out of that game. ;P
Oh yes Black-Caracal, 'accidental'... to a -ahem- certain extent...