Chapter 12: What have we become?
Stressingly enough, it took Yugi well over an hour by bus to get home, and that's not including the time he stopped to get lunch at McDonald's, which took another 20 minutes.
Well, he was finally approaching the door step, and he felt like he had been away for a month instead of just barely a day.
He was nervous, as he should be, when he opened the door and called out Yami's name.
He closed the door behind him and walked into the living room area, then the kitchen, and both areas were clean....and unoccupied. Then he walked towards the stairwell, inching up on the steps, calling out Yami's name once again.
"Hello! Yami I'm home!" He said confidently, which was actually far from what he was feeling inside.
From the looks of it, Yami was no where to be found here and Yugi, for all his built up courage before he stepped foot inside the house, heaved a sigh of relief.
"I guess he's at the shop." Yugi said to himself. At least I can get myself settled before the big showdown, he thought, because that's exactly what he felt it would be like.
He took the steps two at a time and just to make sure, went towards Yami's room and knocked on the door. As he anticipated, Yami was definitely not in quarters. So he headed to his room, dropped his knapsack on the side, ripped off his sneakers and plopped himself tiredly onto the bed. With both hands folded under his head, lying on his back, Yugi stared at the ceiling wondering what to do next.
He knew he couldn't do anything but wait it out because running away was certainly not an option, not to mention be a cowardly act in itself.
Well, he was in enough trouble as it was, and he did promise Grandpa that Yami and he would patch things up before he came home. But as that loomed over him, he knew the deed was much easier said than ever done. He had no idea how Yami would react, how angry Yami would be with him once the time came. And that's what he was most dreading about this encounter.
After all, he didn't come home last night and he didn't come home in the morning as he said he would have, and what was worse about all that was not even calling in once to assure his welfare. Even he admitted that Yami's wrath was warranted in those regards. Grudgingly, he could even see Grandpa siding with Yami on this one.
All he knew for the most part was that HE would be the one mainly on the defensive, and that's what made his position harder to defend, and that made him feel somewhat helpless.
With that all in mind though, he wasn't going to just let Yami lord it over him, finger point him into submission. He was not about to be corralled into a corner of guilt, for he was experiencing that feeling well enough already he thought, and he was sick of it.
He moved over on his left side trying to will himself to sleep, but found it difficult to. So he got up from his lying position and edged himself on the end of the bed, now sitting up with elbows resting on his left and right lap, head in between his hands.
"I have to tell him why I did it. If he doesn't want to hear it, well so be it. And if he doesn't like the idea that I'll have Ty as a friend, he'll just have to suck that up as well, because I'm sick of psychoanalyzing myself and my conscious." he said defiantly to himself.
Then he sighed, shaking his head with his hands still on both sides, in that same sitting position. Then for some odd, impulsive reason, he dipped his head near his underarm as if to smell himself, and let out a "hmph."
"God, I stink. Well, if I'm going to go down fighting, I might as well smell good doing it." he thought, and that's when he went inside the bathroom to take a long, hot shower.
20 minutes later, Yugi came out of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped around his waist. He reached in his drawers to search for a T-shirt and boxers and slipped them both on. He sat down on the bed once again, wondering what to do to kill time but found he was restless, so he decided to put on some much needed music to liven up this dead mood he was feeling.
For some reason, he was into something jumpy, something upbeat to dance to. As he was changing through the stations, he came upon just the song that would get his spirits going. Missy Elliot's "Work It", a fast pace, funky hip-hop dance song, was just what he needed to get his blood flowing, his body moving, and most importantly his mind off the matter that was driving him to frustration, even if it was just for a small measure of time.
He needed some kind of release....
The music was getting into him and he was now moving his waist in synchronization with his legs and feet, matching the pace of the beat.
He remembered seeing the music video more than a couple of times when the song was at the height of it's popularity, so he tried mimicking some of the dance moves he saw in it, and with great accuracy.
"Is it worth it, let me work it....I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it."
Now he was breaking it down, getting into that striptease mode that Ty had taught him so well by quickly gyrating in a funky, sexy way, propping his shirt up and down in rhythm higher up his chest until he flipped it over his head and whipped it behind his lower back. Then he was whisking the shirt, side to side, behind him in a dancing routine reminiscent of one drying their back with a towel.
"See my hips and my tips don't ya....See my ass and my lips don't ya...."
"Lost a few pounds in my whiffs for ya...This kinda beat that goes ba ta ta...
"Ra ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta...Sex me so good I say blah blah blah..."
"Work it, I need a glass a wata...Boy oh boy it's good to know ya..."
He was working the shirt, spinning it in his right hand now and threw it on his bed, then broke it down by getting on the floor in a push-up position but with both legs splayed wide apart, pumping up and down, almost as if he was freakin' somebody.
"Boy, lift it up, let's make a toast-a...Let's get drunk, that's gon' bring us closer..."
"Don't I look like a Halle Berry poster...See the Belvedere playin' tricks on ya..."
He was getting into it when suddenly he heard loud knocking on the door. He shot up from where he was and rushed to turn the volume down. Then his heart starting pumping faster once he inched closer to door, for he knew exactly who that had to be.
It's Yami...So soon? he thought, holding his hand on the knob of the door. He heard another round of knocking, and this time Yami was yelling "Yugi, open the door!"
"Well, here goes nothing" Yugi murmured, then opened it.
And there he was, Yami, staring stoically, motionlessly at him with those piercing crimson eyes. They were stormy.....and that's when he knew that this confrontation was going to be a serious one.
"We need to talk...Now."
Scene Two:
They made there way into the living room area, for Yami suggested it was the best place for them to talk. And so Yugi followed, not exactly hesitantly but definitely not readily either.
They were sitting on different couches, facing each other's direction, and that's when they began having their discussion.
From what he was told so far, Yami now knew about Grandpa's situation, for he visited the hospital the very same day he did, right after he had left, in fact.
He, like Yugi, was relieved of the fact that they no longer had to worry about the medical finances, but he was clearly more relieved at the news of Grandpa's improving health.
Yami's tone was steady, but his face was serious when he had hinted at the things he and Grandpa had discussed and what he obviously did NOT discuss with him.
He could ascertain by what Yami was telling him that his meeting with Grandpa was a lot more discreet than the one he (Yugi) had, and that he (Yami) was careful in not revealing his (Yugi's) short stint as a stripper or about his (Yami) dropping school to run the shop.
Yami, like he did, felt it was wise to hold their tongues on those two glaring facts, for doing so would just give Grandpa a heart attack and put him right back into the hospital. That much they had agreed upon...
That's where the trend of the conversation was going until the topic turned towards his where-abouts the night before, and inevitably the incident at the club.
The tension in the room grew considerably, and before they knew where their pent up emotions were carrying them, they were led into a full blown argument trading blow for blow.
"It was humiliating, Yugi, and I did not appreciate your attitude towards me when you thwarted my demands to leave!" Yami said, his voice clipped.
"Humiliating?! How about YOUR high-handed attitude when you were too busy lambasting me with your self-righteous, arrogant tone, like I was some damn child who needed to be ordered about!" Yugi returned with fervor.
"'Ordered' about?" Yami almost growled.
"Yes, 'ordered' about! You weren't giving me demands; it was more like COMMANDS to me, talking down to me in a condescending manner. That was absolutely not necessary and what was worse was that you did it in front of all those people, Yami!" Yugi cried.
Yami was now on the defensive. "You weren't listening to me, so I had to take that tone with you, not to mention how your bloody 'friend' decided to butt in and talk for you, so it became clear to ME that you were not in control of the situation! How the hell was I supposed to react to something like that?!" he declared.
"You didn't have to react the way you did!"
Yami gave a look that reflected one of incredulous anger. He was out of his seat now.
"Wha...He punched me, Yugi! Look?" He growled, pointing to his still puffy eye.
"How can you be defending that bastard after what he's put you through...what he's done to me!"
He was angry with Yami's assertion that clearly made him (Yugi) look like a victim in all this, when in his mind there was no victim.
"You don't know what the hell I've been through, so how could you say that when you haven't even given me a chance to explain myself?! And you don't even know Ty because you're too busy trying to make him into some bad apple, when he was just trying to help distill the situation. And the last time I remembered, it was YOU who initiated the physical contact, so you got no less than what you deserved at the time."
"Wha..." Yami was about to interject but was cut off by Yugi.
"You were acting like a complete asshole! Yeah...I was the ONLY one who acted out of character last night, by far!" Yugi exclaimed, that last statement returned with more than a dash of sarcasm.
And in reaction to that bold proclamation, Yami's voice became a low hiss. It was also blatant in his expression that he was not thrilled with Yugi's defense of his 'friend' and he was clearly not pleased with the fact that Yugi even considered him one. He was shaking furiously, barely trying to contain it.
"You have a lot of nerve calling me names, when it was YOU who went out of your way to hide this job from me, when I specifically told you it was not necessary! Have you NO idea how you looked up there, carrying on as if you were some cheap slu..." Yami was going to catch himself before he said the word, but it was too late.
And that's when Yugi's anger reached the boiling point, and that's when he stood up from where he sat.
"Don't...you...dare call me a slut, Yami. Don't you DARE!"
"Yugi, I didn't mean to for it to sound..."
But Yugi was far from listening to him, so he continued, loudly, over Yami's voice. His chest was heaving with so much emotion, he felt like it would burst him open.
"You know DAMN well I would never, EVER get into a situation like that without a damn good reason to!" Yugi's eyes were flashing in deeply felt anger.
"At the time, it was the only way for me to make that kind of money in a short period of time and that's the risk I took! So I stripped, Yami, I fuckin' stripped! Now you're going to call me a slut because of that?" he expressed accusingly.
Yugi's eyes were welled up with tears, but he was trying so hard in not letting them come down. He refused to show Yami how much he had hurt him.
"I do not regret my actions because it was done with the intention to help Grandpa pay his medical bills. He's MY grandfather, Yami, and I wasn't going to stand by and not do anything when I thought he needed me the most. If there was any other way, if I had known you'd react this way, I would never have considered the job, but I did and what's done is done. I refuse to let you guilt me any further when you were the one who pushed me away, took away that right from me!..."
Yami's face was lit in shame and for the moment, he remained speechless.
Yugi gathered his breath, trying to steady his voice. "If it makes you feel better, I quit. It was never going to be a permanent thing...." He didn't continue, for he was shaking his head in a way as if he couldn't believe they had reached this point.
That it had come to this.
"Yugi, please, I didn't mean to push you away..." Yami responded softly now, clearly trying to do damage control.
But Yugi wasn't listening.
"Just forget it, okay?! Just ..." And that's when he turned his back and began heading towards the stairs, but then Yami was closing in from behind, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Yugi, wait..."
"Leave me alone. Let me go..." Yugi pleaded, but Yami wasn't hearing him for he said, "No...no, I won't let you go. I'm....I'm..." It wasn't like Yami to stutter and now he was staring at Yugi in a way that looked like something akin to...longing.
And Yugi, in that instant, was enthralled.
That's when Yami leaned closer...closer..., and touched his lips with Yugi's. His lips were urging and wanting.
Yugi, strangely, felt himself giving away, his resistance ripped from him in that languid moment, almost as if it all happened in slow motion.
Then suddenly, he came to his senses when he realized what he was doing and who he was doing it to. And that's when he nudged himself away with nothing but a stunned look on his face, staring at Yami as if he was seeing him for the very first time.
Yami was staring at him in that same distraught expression once he realized what had transpired between them. He recovered his voice, and when he did speak, it had a touch of remorse. "Yugi....I... don't know what came over me...I shouldn't..."
Yugi looked at Yami, still trying to recover from the shock of it all but was suddenly engulfed with a dreaded sense of uneasiness. He began to back away...
"Yugi...please."
"No....no, don't say anymore..." And that's when he dashed upstairs to his room and locked the door, leaving Yami standing in the living room alone.
He dropped himself on the bed, lying on stomach with his face buried in the pillow...expecting the tears to start flowing down full force, but they didn't come.
No, the tears didn't come down but he did lie there, stuck in a trance-like state, thinking about what happened downstairs there. And that was it...he DIDN'T know what to think anymore.
"What...are we now?" He said out loud to himself, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. And he didn't know what that kiss was for...What it meant.
"I don't know what you have become, Yami, just like you don't know what I have become now."
Then Yugi's mind drifted off into a place of uncertainty...for he had a strange feeling that in some way, that stolen kiss was life altering. It could change everything.....
-Author's note: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! As per usual there is more to come, and it will be updated as soon as possible. Please give reviews and voice opinions!
Just a few things: The song ("Work It" by Missy Elliot) that was featured in this chapter is NOT my own.
Missy Elliot is a real life Rap/Hip Hop artist (for those who do not know) and her lyrics are all copyrighted, so I do not take credit for parts of the song that were used in the chapter. So no, I do NOT want to be sued, okay?
For those interested in hearing the song or seeing the video "Work It", you can go to "Launch" at Yahoo, which you can view only under Yahoo registration. Yes, it's free...
Just type in the song name or Missy Elliot in the search engine and you should get a list of her songs and videos.
I used that song in particular because I felt it suited, not to mention that I like the artist and the song itself.
Anyway, until next chapter! Remember I love you all very much! Teehee...
