Chapter 10 "Stalking Lion In A Cage"

The next day, Yami was late opening Grandpa's card shop. He barely made it on time to receive the new card delivery that came that morning. These new cards were the new prime edition collectables, and they were very important in hopefully sparking more profit for the shop and bring big business. This new venture was supposed to bring enthusiasm as well as instigate good feelings, but Yami was definitely on the downside of things.

Not only was he walking-dead tired, but he was royally pissed as well, and that had nothing to do with him being a former Pharaoh and all. Even though he had accomplished his goal in finding out what Yugi was really up to, last night had still turned out to be a disaster, not to mention a very humiliating experience he'd love to forget soon enough.

Not only did Yugi gainsaid him, he was thrown out of the club on his ass only to get soaking wet a little later on his way home, as if the gods were mocking him for his naivety. He waited up all night to confront Yugi, but never got the chance to. That wait was pure futility, for Yugi never came home last night.

But no matter how humiliating that experience was, that still did not compare to the stunned feeling he felt when he discovered it was Yugi who was dancing on that stage, so confidently, so erotically. Wasn't he the same one who said that Yugi couldn't possibly possess those very same...er... 'qualities'? The joke was certainly on HIM.

He didn't know which realization shocked him more: Yugi's new found sexual confidence or his bloody reaction to it.

Yugi certainly hasn't showed that side to ME before, he thought angrily. And where the hell did he learn to move like that, anyway?

Hell, even as he thought it, he had a fairly good idea as to who could have influenced Yugi in such a vulgar manner. Tygris

Yami was in the storage area, opening the new arrivals with a box cutter. Once he got the boxes open, he grabbed a handful of card packets in both hands, and stalked towards the card display area. He began angrily, but still carefully, placing the packets on the display hooks.

As he was doing this, his mind began to drift off into space to a dream he had last night. His crimson eyes glazed over when he remembered vividly how Yugi, who was on a stage dancing slowly, erotically, licking his lips in sheer pleasure. The memory, against his will, brought unnerving chills down his spine.

Yugi was seductively gliding his hands down his glistening chest, moving towards a stranger sitting in a chair, a man dressed exactly as he did that night at the club in the same dark, overcast hat. Yugi's eyes held a smoldering, sexual intensity, eyeing the stranger as if he was the last man he'd ever feast his lusting eyes on.
Yugi then slowly and surely straddled the man, then provocatively began riding him, caressing his hands down the man's chest, ripping his jacket open, then the white collar shirt with an emphatic RiiiiiP." Then Yugi bent a little low, glazing his pink, pert tongue over one taught nipple in a deliberate, teasing manner. A sharp hiss escaped the stranger's lips, making Yugi chuckle with satisfaction.

"You like that, don't you?" he purred, and then devoured the other nipple. After his ministrations, he raised his head to gaze into the stranger's familiar eyes, and then smiled impishly when he whisked the dark hat off the stranger's head.

Shaggy, lime green hair was revealed.........and the following events that occurred there on after he never got to remember because that was when he woke up in a cold, nervous sweat.

"Christ!" Yami hissed to himself in annoyance, the same feelings of raw jealously rushing back to him in waves. Jealousy? When did he become aware of these feelings and when did he become so possessive of Yugi, all of a sudden? For as long as he's known Yugi, he has never experienced feelings like this before, and the more frequent these feelings arose, the more he became uncomfortable with assessing them.

His feelings he could not yet ascertain, but what he DID know was that he would have to confront Yugi and end his....acquaintance with Tygris. "Yugi does not belong to you, damn it!" he grunted out loud, pounding a fist into his palm with a loud Smack!.

"Yami?"

"Huh?" Yami was removed from his reverie, looking up to see it was Tea who came into the shop. Obviously he was too caught up in his imagination to notice her walk in.

"Oh...Tea, it's you." Yami looked away, slightly embarrassed he was caught off guard musing to himself.

Tea, dressed in a tight light-green designer shirt with matching short shorts, eyed Yami with a slightly cocked eyebrow. "Are you okay, Yami? You seem to have a lot on your mind."

Yami glanced at Tea, this time blatantly noticing the light-green outfit she wore. He bit his tongue; the color obviously reminded him of the person and the predicament (or were they both the same thing?) he'd most want to tackle and bury at this very moment. Not wanting to give away his irritated mood, he shook his head, quickly waving his hand in the air scoffingly as if to say "nonsense".

"It's nothing. I'm just worried about Yugi and Grandpa."

Tea seemed to accept that reply for the moment. "Yeah...I can only imagine the amount of pressure you're under trying to run the shop while Grandpa's in the hospital. You look a little stressed..."

Yami impatiently ran his right hand through his pointed blonde hair. "I'm okay, Tea. There's nothing to worry about, really. Now what do you need?"

"I didn't come here for anything. I just came to see how you were doing..."

"As I said, I'm fine! I just have a lot on my plate right now..."

Tea flinched at Yami's clipped, curt tone. Now this was definitely a side of Yami she rarely ever saw. Did I come at a bad time? she thought. The black circles around his eyes were a great indicator that he's tired more than anything else. Well, one did look darker and swollen than the other, which also indicates that he got punched in the eye. The normally cool, charming, unflappable, confident-in-all-situations Yami is no where to be seen right now. That version of Yami is in hibernation at this point.

Something's definitely bothering Yami and she has more than a good idea as to what could have inspired his unusually grouchy mood. Of course she was at the club last night, having witnessed the scene between Yami and Yugi. Their parting was what she could have termed a bitter one with Yami being handily thrown out of the club, while Yugi showed uncharacteristic boldness towards Yami by staying with his stripper friend instead of leaving with Yami as told.

Gotta hand it to Yugi for standing up for himself, but he couldn't have picked a worse time to do it. Not that it was her business, but it's not like Yugi to get involved with a guy like that Tygris. Hopefully he knows what the hell he's doing, but in the mean time it's obvious Yami's pretty tight over the whole situation, from what she can piece together. Even then, she won't let him know that she's aware that his dilemma is not as "local" as he wants her to believe.

Not even her cute, new outfit could cure that bad mood he's in. If she had known he would act like this TODAY, she would have came in her outfit another day. Even though she knows that talking about Yugi or anything related would be a sore subject at this point, she pressed on to find out more anyway.

"Yami, if there's something bothering you, we can talk about it. If handling the shop has become too much to shoulder, I can ...."

"Tea, thank you, but there's nothing wrong. I'm just a little tired." Yami barely managed to stifle a yawn, clasping a hand over his mouth.

Tea's eyebrows were down-turned in growing annoyance at his stubbornness. "Then go home. You're in no shape to be working today anyway."

Yami turned to eye Tea as if she was going out of her mind. That look he gave made her even more annoyed.

"What?! You know I can't do that! Someone has to keep the shop open and I am the only one that's capable of doing it."

That better not mean the way it came out she thought. Now she was getting angry. Legs parted, lips firm, hands on each side of her waist now, she retorted. "Well, with THAT attitude, you'll likely scare all the customers away. Face it, Yami! You need more help than you've been getting, and that you've pretty much downplayed how hard this has been for you. You look like a drag queen who did a really bad mascara job!"

Yami's eyes turned slit-like, said sarcastically through clenched teeth. "Why thank you, Tea, for reminding me how 'splendid' I look today..."

"Yami, please let me help you!"

Yami sighed in exasperated annoyance. "Why are we discussing this? I said I can run the shop myself. It's not that I don't appreciate what you and the others have done for me so far, but if I needed any more of your or any one else's help, I'd ask for it." He completed the sentence as if to imply that that was the end of the subject.

Tea's impatience was beginning to wear thin to the point of throttling some sense into Yami. This was beyond stubbornness, this was friggin' near suicide.

"Yami, if you wear yourself out too much, you could very well tire yourself into a hospital bed right next to Grandpa, if you're not careful! Too much stress and strain..."

"And I've been under stress and strain before, and I've come through fine. Nothing new. It's something I have to deal with until I raise enough money to pay for Grandpa's medical bills and until he returns..."

"For the love of go....Yami, why are you being so stubborn?!!"

"I'm not being stubborn, I'm being reasonable." His tone became a lot more patronizing and condescending, and it made her want to spit.

"Reasonable? 'Reasonable' is the last thing you're being. You act as if you're the only one who's capable of solving problems and then you refuse to accept help when you need it. This doesn't have to be a one man show, Yami. And no, you're NOT the only one who's capable of running this shop! Yugi and I or anyone can come in and run this shop as well as YOU can, if you'd just give us a chance! You're not the only one who's concerned for Grandpa, you know."

"Grandpa's health is my concern and shouldn't be everyone else's concern! I don't want everyone getting too caught up in this...problem!"

"Well, damn it, you're wrong! We all care about Grandpa as much as you do. You need to start having a little bit more faith in people."

"What do you mean? I do have fai..."

"No, you don't!!! Not enough, anyway! Maybe...maybe when it comes to dueling, yeah, but for situations like this one, you do tend to act the arrogant, know-it-all asshole at times."

"What?! Excu..."

"I'm NOT finished!"

Tea's chest was heaving now in full blown anger, her right arm extended with her pointer finger aimed at Yami as if to say 'she's not hearing any of it.'

"I don't know what it is lately, but you've changed. You're not the same as you've used to be, even after the Shadow realm games ended." You're not the same guy I began having feelings for Tea thought to herself. Of course, she didn't dare reveal those feelings out loud.

"What are you talking about? I haven't changed! It's all in your imagination, Tea. Why are you getting so damn emotional over this? Am I not allowed to have my ups and downs sometimes? I am human, right? Shit, give me a goddamn break!"

Tea looked at Yami as if she was seeing him for the first time. She sighed.

"Nobody's saying you can't have your bad days, Yami, but when you need help, stop acting like you don't need it. It's almost as if you got something to prove. You're used to being the leader, the show stopper, the one that everyone turns to when all else fails, but this time it's the other way around when you need us the most, and you can't take it!"

"Whaat?!" Yami interceded but Tea ignored him and continued.

"You're out of your element now and you don't want our help. Why? You don't have to play the damn hero in this battle because you're not facing Marik or Kaiba or any of those dumb duelists! This time we can all pitch in at once and help you. Isn't what you've been telling us, that friendship is a two-way street that we got to learn to trust each other if we truly believe in each other in the time of need? Or does all of that shit mean something only when YOU'RE the one saying it, when you're in the position to call most, if not all, of the shots?" She swallowed, her throat raw with emotion.

Yami stood there in stunned silence, and then replied when he gathered his thoughts. "I really don't appreciate you psychoanalyzing me...."

"I'm just concerned about you, Yami..."

'"DON'T be!" He bellowed more than voiced. "Is that all you have to say to me now? May I go about my work in peace?!!!" Taken aback by this outburst, Tea decided that her presence was no longer welcome. Her eyes were getting a little watery...but she refused to show that he had hurt her feelings with inconsiderate words.

"You know what? Since I'm getting all 'emotional' here and since you seem to have all of this figured out, I'll just leave you to talk to yourself, wondering why shit went anymore wrong than it should have." She was hurting now. "No wonder Yugi decided to find new company..." she said loud enough for him to hear as she stormed out the exit door.

And with that, she left the store with Yami staring gaped mouth, eyes widened in surprise when he realized whose "company" she was referring to. He then shook his head, wondering what the hell else COULD go wrong.