"Jonouchi, where are you?" Yugi whispered as he stared at the building. He stared straight at the door as the entire building burst and was engulfed in flames. The doors burst outwards as the flames lapped at the sides. "Jonouchi! Jonouchi! JONOUCHI!" Yugi screamed as every fiber in his body strained and he ran towards the inferno. Panic overran his body at the thought that his beloved husband could still be in there.
Just as quickly a strong grip grabbed Yugi's shoulder and held him back from the flames. He fought against the grip but Anpu held him tightly.
"You can't do anything Papa-san," Anpu whispered.
"Jonouchi," Yugi whispered, choking on the name. He couldn't be gone. He wouldn't allow it. Yugi felt the fire burning as he stared at it. Slowly a shadow appeared and Jonouchi stumbled out of the flames, his head ducked down to shield from the smoke and flames that were lapping at his sides and Kaiba lying motionless in his arms.
Yugi wrenched away from Anpu's grasp and ran towards Jonouchi in relief as the tears flooded out. "Don't ever do that to me again!"
"Sorry Yugi," Jonouchi murmured as he nodded his head.
"Is he-" Yugi began as Jonouchi shook his head.
"He died in the very end. He's gone Yugi."
Yugi shut his eyes tightly. Kaiba had never been a friend but that didn't mean he deserved this. "We'll give him a proper burial."
"Bleeding hearts," Anpu heard the snort behind him and turned to see Matao directly behind him. He coldly turned and walked off. Anpu didn't waste a moment in taking off after the other teen. At the sight of Anpu giving chase Matao picked up his speed, turning to a full out sprint.
Anpu did everything he could to follow closely but it wasn't easy. Matao was a good deal faster than he was. He barely managed to catch up before seeing the other teen go down. He had just fallen over, much to Anpu's surprise as he rushed to Matao's side.
Anpu brushed the hair away and saw that his face was unhealthily pale. "Come on," Anpu whispered as he shook him. "I don't know what to do and I can't carry you. Come on, wake up!"
Anpu's eyes darted down as he heard the shallow breathing and ever so slowly Matao's eyes flickered open again and he tried to sit up. Anpu reached out to support him against him.
"What happened?"
"You passed out," Anpu explained as he sat down on the dirty ground, Matao leaning heavily against his chest. Matao's eyes were distant as he stared into the wall in front of him. His father was dead and that was the only thing that was really making it into his thoughts. It echoed over and over as he sat there. He didn't feel the ground beneath or the wind that tousled his hair or Anpu's warm arms holding him. Everything was blank as his mind focused on the facts before him. He remembered the day he had caught a sickness. His father had taken him to the hospital, throwing what was remaining of his money at the doctors to heal him. They did heal him, but at a forfeit of his father's life. His father had saved him, knowing he needed the help as well.
Now he was gone and while he showed an ice cold edge Matao felt his heart breaking from loneliness inside. His mind was trapped in a world of sorrow, so far from the reality that it felt that nothing would pull him out of it. The shadows and darkness of his own mind's making threatened to swallow him whole in their suffocating thickness.
Jonouchi and Yugi jogged down the street in search of Anpu. He had gone after Matao and hour previous and after the cops were called and he still hadn't shown up they were worried of the whereabouts of their son.
"Jonouchi!" Yugi called from the opposite side of the street as he waved him over. "Over here!"
The blond nodded his head and joined him, following Yugi's gaze down the dark alleyway where he saw Anpu sitting. Yugi slowly approached him and knelt down beside him, his husband soon joining.
"He hasn't moved since he woke up," Anpu said as he looked at Yugi. "Papa-san, what's wrong with him?"
"I don't know," Yugi shook his head as Jonouchi quickly put a call into their personal doctor. Yugi stroked Anpu's hair as the boy watched Matao closely. It was frustrating him to no end as in his mind he asked himself, why did he care? It made no sense. Matao was a stuck-up ass hole with nothing but an ice cold heart. Or was he?
Anpu shook his head. It didn't make any sense whatsoever.
"The doctor will be here in a few minutes," Jonouchi said as he shut the cell phone and glanced down to see Yugi sitting there and stroking Anpu's hair. The night had raged on all of them emotionally but by the look of it things weren't over yet.
Yugi gave a huge yawn as he glanced at the clock in the waiting room. It was already six in the morning meaning they had been up all night.
"Yugi, you can go home. I'll wait here," Jonouchi explained but Yugi shook his head.
"I think we should leave the game shop closed tonight. We're all a bit worn out." Yugi curled up against Jonouchi's side as the blond wrapped his arms around his husband. A smile touched his lips as he saw Anpu curled up in a chair on the other side of the waiting room.
The door cracked open and both Yugi and Jonouchi looked up to see Bakura walking towards them in a white lab coat over his normal clothes. They had teased Bakura to no end when first learning of his career choice but that didn't mean they weren't grateful for his service.
"It seems he's in a mental state of shock, but he has appeared to come out of it," Bakura commented as he sat down next to the couple. "The collapse is due to lack of nourishment and food. Now the bad news."
Yugi swallowed, afraid that Bakura was about to tell them that Matao was dying as well.
"He's about seventy pounds under-weight, that's dangerously light and he has fleas."
"Fleas?" Jonouchi echoed as a laugh escaped from Yugi's mouth and he fell off his seat in fits of laughter.
"Yes, fleas."
