TL: looks around Hellooooo…? Where'd everybody go?
Jou: They all left because you took too long to update.
TL: They—They did? Has it been that long? checks updates Holy censored! It's been approximately a gazillion days since the prologue of this! I blame high school. I blame everything on high school, including world hunger, the war with Iraq, and the death of Elvis Presley. I've been crazy-busy. But I finally got a vacation! Whooo—
Jou: You're talking too much. Just write.
TL: Right. Here is the chapter I thought I lost. Enjoy the mind-numbing shortness. uu
(A/N: I've gotten used to using the double-u-ed Yuugi, so I apologize for the inconsistency.)
"Yuugi? Yuugi! Aibou, where did you go?" Yami glanced around in a circle, thinking quickly. Yuugi had been waiting for Yami to come back to the amusement park square with a map, but now the boy had wandered off to Ra-knows-where. The crowds of noisy people strolling through and past the spot made it even more difficult for Yami to try and find his hikari by normal senses alone. He tapped into the Puzzle link. The "other end" was dead.
Yami cursed. This either meant that Yuugi was hurt, unconscious or dead, or that he wasn't wearing the Puzzle. Yami doubted the second possibility, but feared the first. Surely someone would have noticed if Yuugi had been hurt, so perhaps he had been quietly kidnapped. That made the task of finding him nothing short of impossible.
Yami started by poking around the rest of the park, hoping for some kind of hint. As he was beginning to lose hope, heading towards the park entrance, he overheard a small child arguing with her mother, about something that gave Yami a large jolt of renewed energy.
"But Mommy, I think it's pretty!"
"Well, whatever you think, it's tacky and you don't know where it's been. We should take it to a guard and let them return it to its owner, if that person even wants it."
Yami frowned. His spiritual home was not tacky! He refocused his thoughts. Yes, Puzzle, Yuugi. Now we will find Yuugi.
"Excuse me ma'am, that's my necklace. Thank you, I've been looking all over for it." He took the Puzzle and left behind a dazed mother and sulky little girl.
Now Yami knew why Yuugi hadn't responded. It looked as though he had dropped the Puzzle en route to an unknown location. This eased the pharaoh's worries a little.
Yami once again made his way to the exit, nodding to the security guards and ticket takers. The real challenge had begun. Yami had to find a small teenaged boy in the city of Domino, possibly held captive, possibly not.
First the spirit checked Kame Games, then the high school and museum. With no success and normal hangouts out of the way, it was time to check the back streets.
Wandering along a dank and rather smelly alleyway, Yami was startled by a noise in a doorway. There was a light scratching of claws on concrete and small, plain brown crossbreed puppy sat himself down on Yami's left foot, smiling in a canine manner and wagging his tiny plume of a tail.
Yami sighed. "Hello, little dog. If you would kindly remove yourself from my foot I could continue my search for my aibou." The puppy remained where he sat, still smiling and wagging his tail. "In fact, I would like for that to happen. Soon." Yami stared down the dog, willing it off his foot. The dog didn't move. "Don't make me ki—" he began, bending down, when he noticed the dog's collar. "Is that Yuugi's? There aren't exactly an infinite number out there. Wait, you… You are Yuugi, aren't you?" Yami noted the violet hue of the puppy's eyes, and the familiarity it seemed to feel for him. "So where are your clo—oh. Oh." Yami was bombarded with images of Yuugi, minus any clothing except for a collar. He swallowed. "Now see what you've done?" The dog that was Yuugi stuck his tongue out and began to pant good-naturedly. "Clothes can be replaced. We're going home." With that, Yami picked up Yuugi and tucked him under one arm, turning around and setting a course for home.
TL: I'm sorry it was short. The next chapter is in the works though. Please forgive me.
