Tangled
Part 2
Disclaimer: No Yu-Gi-Oh characters/scenes/concepts etc are in any way affiliated with myself.
Notes: Thankyou Ann for being my beta-reader. And thanks to anyone who reviewed the first chapter. Suggestions always welcome.
Yami was trapped. Inwardly he fought and struggled, but his mind seemed unable to catch his body's attention. Instead his first reaction was to freeze.
Even if he were able to move he would find it hard going. Duke had both arms wrapped tightly around him; one behind his neck and the other cradling his head. Not to mention the fact that their hair was tangled together, bringing both their faces together at a convenient kissing height.
And kiss they had—or at least, Duke had crushed his lips against Yami's and forced his tongue into Yami's mouth, invading him. He was not violent, simply determined.
Finally Yami managed to summon some resistance. With an exclamation muffled by Duke's mouth, he put his hands on the other boy's chest and attempted to push him away.
Yami wanted only to retreat; so uncharacteristic for him that Yugi was becoming worried… more so than he already was because of Duke, that is. Yami was normally quite calm when facing the unknown, be it a Duel Monsters card he'd never seen, or a situation that he didn't know how to react to, such as this. He never ran from anything.
Now, since physical retreat was impossible, he was considering simply fading into the back of Yugi's mind, where no one could reach him. But no; he could never do that to his hikari. He would protect Yugi, be it from malicious intent or misguided affection.
Finally, Duke seemed to reach the conclusion that kissing the patently unwilling brought little enjoyment. He drew back, studying Yami's face. His hands slipped down to hold Yami around the waist. Green eyes gazed into purple, searching for reciprocal affection.
He found only anger, and Duke's heart sank to the pit of his stomach. Physically, Yami was in his arms, but emotionally he was still out of reach. This wasn't meant to happen. This day of running on emotion and acting on impulse—so opposite to his usual calculating, systematic approach to life—it couldn't end in rejection. It was different; it was special. It certainly could not have the predictable outcome.
On tenterhooks, Duke hid his thoughts behind a practised poker face. He kept a slight smile on his lips as he continued to stare Yami in the eye.
Behind the anger… was that—fear? Duke did yet another emotional u-turn. Yami's anger was a secondary emotion, brought about by the true one: fear. Fear meant uncertainty. Duke had not been rejected yet. Relief and hope filled him the way helium does a balloon. But he did not float away just yet.
As soon as Duke had moved his arms down lower, Yami had grabbed his wrists and thrown him off. With deeply furrowed brow he tried to step back but was again pulled up short by his hair. For a brief moment, Duke could have sworn the Pharaoh looked almost plaintive, but it was over so quickly he wondered if he had imagined it. Yami's eyes blazed. This was the intensity that fixated Duke. Yet the object of his affections looked accusing; Duke could almost read Yami's thoughts. You put me in this… undignified position.
Duke felt the urge to laugh out loud. He settled for chuckling lightly as he took pity on Yami, and with a practised hand untangled their respective hair.
Yami took many steps back. He looked as if he were about to say something, but needed time to cultivate a calm and reasonable tone.
At that point the two were distracted, as the light from the shop doorway was broken. They turned to squint at the silhouette.
Framed by the light stood the elderly and slightly plump distributor of toys with the jolly smile. No, not Santa Claus, but Solomon Moto.
Yami took his appearance as a valid excuse to retreat to his Soul Room and let Yugi take over.
"Yugi! Are you still talking to Joey? Doesn't that boy ever sleep?"
"Sorry, Mr Moto. I didn't realise it was past Yugi's bedtime," Duke grinned.
The old man squinted at the figure in the darkness. "Oh, it's you Duke. What are you two doing out here?"
Yugi blushed. He didn't know how to explain the truth to his grandfather.
"Oh, I just forgot to give Yugi something…" Duke shot Yugi a sly glance. The smaller boy wore a hunted expression.
"Well, come finish your conversation inside. It's really cooled down out here." The elder Moto led the way inside cheerfully, not noticing his grandson's discomfort.
Yugi found himself alone with Duke again. They sat opposite each other in the living area, while Solomon went about his own business, tidying the shop front.
Duke was leaning back in his seat, legs crossed and arms draped over the back of the chair. He was once again totally at ease. Across from him, Yugi sat forward in his seat, looking as nervous as Duke had been prior to the kiss. He had returned to the soft-spoken and shy side of his personality. When he was being meek like this Duke found himself automatically assume a cocky, blunt manner. He privately wished that Yugi would rediscover the confidence he'd had during their duel. It was the sharp-eyed, self-assured Yugi that engaged Duke; the stronger side of his personality that had so much in common with him. They had more than just personality in common, too; there was a deeper connection, as if they shared some secret knowledge. They shared the same revelry in the things they could not control: the roll of the dice, the draw of the cards, or the hearts and minds of other people. To Duke and Yami, life was a game of chance.
And right now, Yugi didn't know the rules, and Duke had yet to discover that he was playing with more than one opponent.
Yugi shifted nervously. "Duke…"
"Yeah?" He grinned, regarding Yugi with partially lidded eyes. His body language suggested someone relaxing at the beach, rather than holding a serious conversation.
"Why did you come back here and… do what you did?"
Duke put on an exaggerated puzzled face, widening his eyes and touching a finger to his lower lip. "What did I do?"
Yugi blushed even harder; even his ears were starting to turn red. Duke grinned again.
"Why did you… kiss me?"
"I would have thought it was obvious."
Yugi looked apprehensive.
"A kiss is a universal gesture of affection, Yugi."
Yugi looked terrified. Comically terrified.
Duke was mildly amused, but not for long. It was the sort of reaction he could get out of almost anybody. His personality could fool anyone; when he acted superior, people believed it. Girls swooned, guys like Joey tried to show him up… The only person to ever challenge him in that respect was Yami. When Duke's persona said "I am hot shit", Yami's replied "oh; you go on believing that… while I live it." He knew how to play the game, and he fought back. Nobody else had ever caused Duke to act the way he had tonight—indecisive, unsure of himself, at the mercy of his emotions… Around Yami he could not maintain his air of savoir-faire. He couldn't predict his own behaviour.
Didn't that put a fun new twist in the game…
"So you… are you saying that you…" Yugi glanced over his shoulder, as if worried someone would overhear their conversation. "You like me?"
"Enough to kiss you, obviously," was Duke's flippant reply.
Yugi gave him a "stop laughing at me, this is serious" look. "But are you saying you, you know, like like me?" he said weakly.
Duke finally looked slightly serious. He sat up straight at least. "You believe in fate, don't you Yugi?"
Confused, he answered, "You mean the heart of the cards?"
"Yeah, sure; whatever you like to call it. So you'd be familiar with the concept of 'love at first sight'?"
Yugi nodded mutely. He didn't know if he liked where this was going. It seemed rather intense.
"A pretty awful cliché, I always thought. Even so, I managed to develop a massive crush on you in the space of one afternoon."
Yugi's eyes widened in what was almost fear. "You have a crush on me!"
"You could at least pretend to be flattered."
"I… sorry, I didn't want to offend you…"
"I'm not offended."
"…but I'm… not like that…" Yugi's face burned. "In fact, I didn't know you were… well…"
"Gay?" said Duke flatly. "Well, I don't go around announcing it to total strangers… although I seem to have taken up kissing semi-strangers…" He made a thoughtful face.
"Well… anyway…" Yugi decided to abandon that topic before he dug himself any deeper into the conversational grave.
"You get to say your bit now," Duke offered helpfully.
Yugi studied Duke's face. It wasn't easy to tell, but behind the jokes he seemed serious about this.
"Okay…" Yugi sighed. He'd never broken anyone's heart before, especially not a guy's… That was a touch melodramatic. He was pretty sure Duke could handle it. Still, Yugi would feel better if he explained to Duke what he'd really gotten himself into.
/Yami/
No answer. The Pharaoh hadn't been responding since Yugi had taken over again. It was worrying, but there wasn't time to hold a conversation inside his own head while Duke was sitting there, waiting for an answer. Yugi had wanted to consult Yami before he told Duke, but he was forced to take silence as assent.
"Duke—who is it that you… like?"
This threw Duke. "Uh… you, Yugi. The person sitting across from me. Your name IS Yugi, isn't it?"
Yugi sighed quietly. It was understandable that Duke would use humour to take the edge off his situation. He had just laid himself on the line, confessing to being homosexual and having feelings for Yugi. Either one took considerable courage, and admitting to both in the same sentence doubly so.
"Okay, skip that question; we'll come back to it." How did you go about explaining that you were sharing your body with an ancient spirit? Yugi glanced down at the Millennium Puzzle weighing against his chest. "Let's start with this," he said, taking its weight so the chain went slack.
Duke remained silent as Yugi recounted the tale of the completion of the Puzzle and attempted to explain the manner in which two souls inhabited a single physical body. He related all of the limited history he knew of the as-yet-unnamed Pharaoh and his games.
Duke continued to be silent after Yugi had finished speaking. He was once again thrown and could do little other than stare mutely at the straight-faced teen who had just told him this incredible story. Yugi seemed serious. And what reason could he have to invent such a bizarre tale, other than to give the impression he was crazy and scare Duke away? He had already made it clear that he wasn't interested in him in that way, and Yugi was too innocent and sincere to come up with such a convoluted and nonsensical strategy to ward off unwanted affection. He was telling the truth… or at least what he believed was the truth. He could be insane.
Duke realised he'd been staring like an idiot while he processed this
information. Mentally he shook himself. Outwardly Yugi saw him blink and return to the present.
"So, what this all comes down to," Duke said slowly, "is that I could be talking to Yugi, or this… mou hitori no Yugi?"
"My friends call him 'the other Yugi'. I call him Yami."
"Why?" It had nothing to do with anything, but Duke couldn't think of any other reply right now. He was still somewhat overwhelmed.
"He asked me to."
"Okay… So your friends know?"
"Yeah, they all have some understanding. They can prove I'm telling the truth, if that's what you mean," said Yugi, with unusual sagacity.
"No, that's not what I meant," Duke replied quickly.
Yugi seemed to accept that, and they were silent for a moment.
"So… Who am I talking to right now?" The question would have sounded stupid to Duke, had Yugi not already asked him one very similar.
"Yugi. But… the one you kissed was Yami." There was tension in the air now, as they reached the most awkward obstacle of the night.
"Oh…"
There was a pregnant pause.
It was one of those silences that builds up to something. It could only last so long…
"— "
"— "
Both boys opened their mouth to speak at once. Yugi stopped immediately, so Duke spoke.
"You're going to ask me who it is I like again."
Yugi nodded. "Yes."
"…" This was the most confusing decision Duke had ever had to make. He didn't even know how to differentiate between the two people he had to decide between—he had thought they were the same person up until about twenty minutes ago—he just didn't have enough information to make the choice…
Cue the memory. Go back to what started it all.
Duke looked up. "Who played Dungeon Dice Monsters against me today?"
"It was Yami…"
He'd been over-thinking. Everything he'd done today had been done on impulse. This wasn't meant to be any different.
"Well… I love Yami."
There, he said it.
TBC
